Website Designers - Your Clients Could Be Getting Sued Over This
Website Designers - Your Clients Could Be Getting Sued Over This  
Podcast: Websites Made Simple: How to have a successful website design business
Published On: Mon Aug 24 2026
Description: If accessibility has never really come up in your work, it isn’t because you’re careless — it’s because almost nobody teaches it. Not the courses, not the diplomas, and definitely not the platforms we all build on.Check out my group offer: https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk/sparks-group-mentoring/ It’s a supportive group mentoring session for website designers and developers to bring their questions, roadblocks, ideas, and “is it just me?” moments.Welcome to another episode of Websites Made Simple with me, Holly Christie.In this episode of Websites Made Simple, I'm joined by Rachel Mess of The Inclusive Design Company, a website designer and trainer who specialises in accessible websites. Rachel got into accessibility because her sister is visually impaired — and was mortified to realise that in years of web design training, not one course had mentioned it.Together we cover the single biggest accessibility failure on the internet, why the drag-and-drop components you trust might be unreadable to both screen readers and Google, why “let the website breathe” is an accessibility decision, the argument that finally brings a reluctant client round, why “click here” hurts you twice over, and the free tools you should be running on every site before you hand it over.🔗 Rachel Mess — The Inclusive Design Company: https://inclusivedesigncompany.co.uk🔗 Sparks group mentoring: https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk/sparks-group-mentoring/🌐 More from Holly: https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk✉️ Email Holly: hello@websitesmadesimple.co.uk🎙️ Podcast produced by Podknows Podcasting: https://podknows.co.uk/Connect with Holly on LinkedIn: Holly Christie.Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn: Rachel MessChapters:00:00 Meet Rachel Meess, accessible web design specialist01:08 How Rachel got into accessibility01:50 Why accessibility never came up in her training02:46 “I can’t charge for a website somebody can’t access”03:09 Web design is a self-taught industry03:40 Why the platforms are part of the problem05:21 Accessibility has to be front of mind as you design05:39 Colour contrast is the biggest issue on the internet06:14 Dropdowns, div blocks and what a screen reader hears07:03 If Google can’t read it, nobody sees your content07:45 Holly’s pet hate: emojis as bullet points09:07 When industry experts quietly ignore best practice10:57 Lived experience is good for business12:49 Consulting with Diversity Scotland13:38 DEI, blog images and seeing yourself on a website14:44 Accessibility is the infrastructure inclusion sits on17:32 Accessibility in your blog posts17:58 Let the website breathe20:46 How to bring a reluctant client round21:32 Why Shopify sites keep coming up22:42 The contrast checker every platform should build in24:06 Why “click here” is a problem25:30 Stop stuffing keywords into alt tags26:29 Test with Lighthouse and WAVE27:36 Graphic designers are not website designers29:04 Where to find Rachel