Website accessibility under Israeli Standard 5568: what the law requires and what it costs

Your website is like your business's shop window, just online. If a physical store has steps at the entrance and no ramp, people in wheelchairs can't get in. In the same way, if your website isn't accessible, you're shutting out about 20% of the population and also exposing yourself to expensive lawsuits. Israeli law, through Israeli Standard 5568, requires most businesses to make sure their website is usable by everyone.

What is website accessibility, and why does it concern my business?

Website accessibility means your site is built so that people with disabilities can use it easily too. It concerns you because the law requires it of most businesses, and because an accessible site opens your business to a wider customer base.

Imagine a blind person who wants to order a service from you. They use special software called a "screen reader", which reads aloud what's on the screen. If the images on your site have no text description (called "alt text"), the screen reader will simply say "image" and the customer won't understand what's going on. If the "Order" button is just an icon with no text, the customer won't know where to click.

Who does accessibility standard 5568 apply to?

The standard applies to almost every business or organization that provides a service to the public in Israel. However, the law exempts very small businesses whose average annual turnover over the last three years doesn't exceed ₪100,000.

If you're not sure, the rule of thumb is simple. Do you sell a product or service to the general public? Do you have a website presenting that service? If the answer to both is yes, and your turnover is above that amount, the law most likely applies to you. That includes stores, restaurants, service providers like accountants or consultants, and more.

What happens if my website isn't accessible?

You're exposed to a lawsuit of up to ₪50,000, with no need to prove damage. On top of that, you simply lose customers who can't use your site and go to your competitors.

The law allows a person with a disability who comes across an inaccessible website to file a civil claim. That means you could find yourself paying significant compensation, even if nobody actually suffered financial harm. Beyond that, a lawsuit like this damages the business's image and brings legal costs and wasted time.

1How do you check whether your website meets the accessibility standard?

You can run a few simple checks yourself, with no technical knowledge. They don't replace a professional audit, but they'll give you a good idea of where your site stands today.

First, put the mouse aside and try to navigate the site using only the keyboard. Use the Tab key to move between links, buttons and form fields. Can you clearly see where you are at every moment? A clear outline should appear around each active item. If you can't see anything, or you get "stuck" somewhere, that's an accessibility problem.

Second, use a free automated tool. A popular, good one is WAVE. Go to https://wave.webaim.org/ (opens in a new window), enter your website address and press Enter. The tool shows your site with notes on the side marking accessibility errors and warnings. Don't be alarmed by the amount of information - focus on the red errors.

2How much does it cost to make a website accessible?

The cost ranges from a few hundred shekels for small fixes to tens of thousands of shekels to make a complex site fully accessible. In many cases, building a new site that's accessible from the ground up is the most cost-effective option.

There are three main ways to handle making a site accessible:

• Automatic accessibility plugins: these are the "accessibility toolbars" you see on many sites. They offer a fast, relatively cheap solution, but usually aren't enough. They deal with only some of the problems and generally don't provide full protection against lawsuits.
• Professional remediation of an existing site: an accessibility expert or web developer goes through the site's code and fixes it by hand. The cost can range from ₪3,000 for a simple site to ₪15,000 or more for large, complex sites.
• Building a new, accessible site: if your site is old or built on a system that makes accessibility hard, it's sometimes better to start over. At MOVE, every site I build comes accessible from the ground up, to the standard. Building a site like this costs ₪5,000 as a one-time payment.

What does a simple accessibility fix look like in code?

One of the most basic accessibility requirements is providing a text alternative for images. It lets screen readers describe the image to blind users. It's a small change in the code with a big impact.

Here's an example of the HTML code for an image, once inaccessible and once accessible. Notice the added attribute called alt.

<!-- Not accessible: no description for screen readers -->
<img src="logo.png">

<!-- Accessible: a clear description for screen readers -->
<img src="logo.png" alt="The logo of Ronit's Hair Design salon">

• <img> - the standard tag for showing an image on a website.
• src="logo.png" - the path to the image file itself.
• alt="..." - the alternative text. This is what the screen reader reads to the user. If the image is purely decorative, leave the attribute empty (alt="") so the screen reader ignores it.

What to do now?

Don't wait for a lawsuit to arrive. Here are four steps you can take today to get started:

1. Do the Tab test: try navigating your site for 5 minutes using only the Tab key. Could you reach all the important places?
2. Run a WAVE check: enter your website address in the WAVE (opens in a new window) testing tool and see how many red errors pop up.
3. Look for an accessibility statement: check whether your site has a page called "Accessibility statement". If it doesn't, that's a first red flag. If it does, read it and see whether it's current and serious.
4. Consult a professional: if you see problems or aren't sure, now is the time to talk to someone who knows. I invite you to get in touch for a short, no-commitment consultation call, to understand where you stand and what your options are.