Accessible Healthcare Websites for Hospitals, Practices and Pharmacies

People with disabilities and chronic conditions use medical care services more frequently and intensively than the general population. Around 7.8 million people in Germany are registered as severely disabled (Source: Federal Statistical Office, 2024), with millions more experiencing low vision, hearing loss, Parkinson's disease, stroke sequelae or cognitive impairments. For these groups, an inaccessible practice website is not merely inconvenient but a genuine barrier to care: someone who cannot book an accessible appointment may end up in an overcrowded emergency department.

Demographic trends compound this: the target group of older users is growing especially fast in healthcare. Many older patients rely on screen magnification, have limited fine motor skills or need extra time for input. Accessible healthcare websites are therefore not a niche solution but address a significant portion of the actual patient population. At the same time, accessible structures improve search engine visibility and reduce bounce rates, making the investment in accessibility compelling from a business perspective as well.

The BFSG, in force since 28 June 2025, obligates all companies and service providers offering digital services to consumers to comply with WCAG 2.2 AA. In healthcare this specifically covers: online appointment booking systems of medical practices, pharmacies and hospitals; patient portals and test result access systems; digital prescription requests and renewals; e-health platforms and health apps accessible via browser. Healthcare service providers who fail to make these digital channels accessible risk warnings from consumer protection associations and regulatory fines of up to €100,000 (BFSG §37).

Pharmacy websites combine information provision and e-commerce: medication information, pre-orders, prescription fulfillment and the online dispensary fall under both BFSG and, where mail-order is offered, the requirements for accessible e-commerce. Product pages with medication descriptions must be correctly structured. Search functions must be keyboard operable and result lists must be accessible to assistive technologies. Shopping carts, order processes and payment forms must be completable without a mouse.

Particular requirements arise from patient information leaflets and prescribing information, which are frequently provided as PDFs. These documents must be tagged to the PDF/UA standard so screen readers can correctly interpret reading order, headings and tables. Dosage tables, warnings and contraindications must not be inaccessible to visually impaired patients — here a barrier can have health consequences.

Healthcare websites face a dual challenge: content must be factually accurate and comprehensible to laypersons at the same time. WCAG 2.2 includes success criterion 3.1.5 (Reading Level), a requirement that goes beyond technical accessibility: when reading level exceeds lower secondary education, supplementary explanations, glossaries or simplified summaries should be provided. For health content this is particularly relevant.

We support hospitals and practices in building comprehensible information architectures: diagnosis and treatment information is structured with clearly defined heading levels. Medical technical terms receive explanatory abbreviation and definition elements (abbr, dfn). Glossary pages are marked up semantically. Tables with laboratory values or dosage schedules receive correct header rows and cell associations. And for core content that is cognitively particularly demanding, we offer preparation in Easy Language.

Healthcare websites run on different technical platforms. Practice websites typically use WordPress with practice-specific plugins for appointment booking and team presentation. Hospitals use TYPO3, Drupal or Contao as their CMS. Patient portals are often based on custom developments or specialist solutions. Pharmacies run online shops on various systems, including Shopware Community Edition for stationary pharmacies with an online ordering capability.

We audit platform-independently against WCAG 2.2 criteria and deliver concrete implementation guidance tailored to the technology in use. For WordPress-based practice websites we show how plugins and themes are configured accessibly. For TYPO3 and Contao installations we provide editorial training and technical specifications. For custom developments we deliver detailed code reviews with solutions.

Appointment booking and prescription requests are form journeys — what matters there is described in the article on accessible forms and validation. That a confirmation or error must also be announced is covered in the article on error and status messages. And because medical texts are often densely set, the article on typography and readability helps. For patient groups with reading difficulties we add content in easy-to-read language; the sector classification is available under accessibility by industry.