5 Accessibility Issues Libraries & Local Orgs Often Overlook; And the Stories That Show Why They Matter

Because accessibility isn’t just a checklist. It’s a lifeline to your community.

Some stories stay with you.

Like the quiet panic in a director’s voice when they say, “We didn’t know our website wasn’t accessible… until we were facing a lawsuit.” Or the relief when a library finally sees their new site through a patron’s eyes and says, “Now everyone can use this.”

Accessibility isn’t abstract. It’s human. It’s the difference between whether someone can sign up for a literacy program, find a polling location, or access a meeting agenda that affects their neighborhood.

And with strengthened WCAG 2.1 / Section 508 standards coming in April 2026, small overlookings matter more than ever.

At LocalHop, we carry these stories because they guide us. They shape how we build, how we design, and how we support the libraries and organizations at the heart of their communities.

Here are five accessibility issues we see most often, woven with real-life experiences from the organizations that inspired us to help build a more accessible public web.

A flyer for Storytime.
A banner celebrating a new local initiative.
A gallery of summer reading photos filled with joy.

But for patrons using screen readers, many websites turn these moments into silence.

Alt text isn’t decoration.

It’s storytelling. It’s inclusion. It’s how someone who can’t see your image can still feel what it represents.

If you’ve ever tried to navigate a 60-page board packet on your phone, you know the struggle.

For many patrons, especially seniors, mobile users, and residents needing assistive tech, inaccessible PDFs are impossible to use:

• No tagging

• No logical reading order

• No searchable or selectable text

• No screen-reader compatibility

It’s one of the most overlooked accessibility violations in the public sector.

During East Baton Rouge Parish Library’s website redesign, one of the biggest transformations was not just the look, it was the structural accessibility beneath it. They had years of PDFs, agendas, guides, and program documents scattered across an aging site. Together, we mapped a plan to bring everything forward in a way that was readable, navigable, and truly open to everyone.

Their site is now a benchmark for accessible public library design in a large urban system.

📘 Read the Case Study: East Baton Rouge Parish Library Website Redesign & Development – LocalHop Event Management Software

Every library loves beautiful event graphics.
Every city wants a visually striking homepage.

But many organizations unknowingly use color palettes with poor contrast: light buttons on light backgrounds, pastel event cards, light-gray text that disappears for anyone with low vision.

It’s not intentional, it just slips through during the rush of programming seasons or department updates.

We see this constantly when migrating older sites into modern, accessible frameworks. One of the most powerful things we do is not redesign a brand, but reinterpret it through an accessible lens. You can keep your identity. You just need it to be readable to everyone.

And with WCAG 2.1 tightening expectations, contrast isn’t a “nice to have.”

It’s a requirement.

There’s a moment many teams experience during an accessibility audit:

“Try navigating your site using only the Tab key.”

Suddenly, links are skipped, menus can’t be opened, carousels trap you, and the focus indicator vanishes. What looked like a clean interface becomes a maze for anyone who doesn’t use a mouse.

This was true for nearly every organization we’ve supported, from tiny rural libraries to massive urban systems. And it matters even more now, because WCAG 2.2 comes with new criteria around focus appearance, focus visibility, and target size.

If someone can’t navigate your site with a keyboard, they can’t navigate it at all.

This one seems small. But it’s one of the most common accessibility issues we see.

Vague or inconsistent page titles like “Events,” “Home,” “Programs,” and “Calendar” aren’t helpful for screen-reader users—or anyone juggling multiple tabs.

Two patrons at Patmos told us they often gave up on the old site because they couldn’t keep track of where they were. And they weren’t alone. Many library patrons we interview during redesigns mention the same challenge.

Clear, descriptive page titles turn a confusing website into a navigable one.

And the best part? 

It’s one of the easiest fixes organizations can make today.

Every organization we work with; Patmos, East Baton Rouge, and dozens more, didn’t become accessible because they were forced to.

They became accessible because they cared.

Your website is often the first door your patron walks through. Accessibility ensures that the door opens for everyone: seniors, parents on mobile devices, patrons with disabilities, English learners, job seekers, and neighbors trying to find their way.

The April 2026 updates aren’t meant to scare public sector organizations. They’re meant to protect the people you serve.

And we’re here to help you stay ahead of them.

Every organization we work with reaches the same moment, the realization that accessibility isn’t just something you check off a list. It’s a long-term investment in your community, your mission, and the trust people place in you. As April’s WCAG 2.1 and 508 updates approach, many libraries and local organizations are discovering that a small barrier on their website can create a big barrier in someone’s daily life. The good news? These challenges are fixable, often faster than you expect, and many improvements can be made without a full redesign.

Whether you’re dealing with legacy PDFs, outdated templates, or a site that simply hasn’t been evaluated in years, you don’t have to navigate it alone. Our team has helped organizations facing time-sensitive accessibility issues, like Patmos, and supported large systems like East Baton Rouge as they modernized years of content. No matter where you’re starting from, we’ll walk with you step-by-step, translating complex standards into clear recommendations and building solutions that feel approachable, sustainable, and rooted in your community’s needs.

Accessibility isn’t a burden. It’s a doorway. And we’d be honored to help you open it wider.