Forem: Adarsh Sharma

Are You Blocking 15% of Your Customers Without Knowing It?

Adarsh Sharma — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 10:59:56 +0000

Imagine building a product for months, launching it, and then
discovering that 1 in 7 people literally cannot use it.

That's the reality for most websites today.

By 2026, web accessibility stops being a "nice to have" and
becomes a strict legal requirement in two of the world's
biggest markets - the USA and Germany. If you're a developer,
founder, or business owner, this affects you directly.

Let's break it down.

🔴 The Risk - What Happens If You Ignore This

USA 🇺🇸 - ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)

The ADA now explicitly covers websites. Courts have ruled
repeatedly that inaccessible websites violate federal law.
We're not talking about warnings - we're talking about
active lawsuits filed every single day against businesses
of all sizes, from startups to Fortune 500 companies.

Germany 🇩🇪 - BFSG (Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz)

From June 2025, Germany's BFSG extends accessibility
requirements to private businesses - not just government
sites. Non-compliance can result in fines up to €100,000.

For German market specifically, the law requires:

Leichte Sprache (Easy Language) options
Sign language alternatives for key content
Full WCAG 2.1 AA compliance minimum

The bottom line? Non-accessible websites are now a
legal liability, not just a UX problem.

🟢 The Reward - Why Accessibility Is Your Competitive Advantage

Here's what most developers miss: accessibility isn't just
about compliance. It's one of the highest ROI investments
you can make in your product.

1. SEO Boost 📈

Google's ranking algorithm and accessibility best practices
overlap significantly:

Alt text on images → better image indexing
Semantic HTML → better content understanding
Keyboard navigation → lower bounce rates
Fast load times → Core Web Vitals improvement

Accessible sites consistently rank higher. It's not a
coincidence.

2. Better UX for Everyone 🎯

Curb cuts were designed for wheelchair users. Now everyone
uses them - cyclists, parents with strollers, delivery workers.

The same principle applies online:

Captions help people in noisy environments
High contrast helps people in bright sunlight
Keyboard navigation helps power users
Clear language helps non-native speakers

What's good for accessibility is good for everyone.

3. Millions of New Users 🌍

Over 1.3 billion people globally live with some form of
disability. That's a market larger than China's population
that most websites are completely ignoring.

Accessibility isn't charity - it's smart business.

💻 What You Need to Fix Right Now

As a developer, here's your practical checklist:

Images

<!-- Bad -->
<img src="profile.jpg" />

<!-- Good -->
<img 
  src="adarsh-sharma-developer.jpg"
  alt="Adarsh Sharma - Full Stack Engineer"
  width="400"
  height="400"
/>

Buttons

<!-- Bad -->
<button>Click here</button>
<button>🔍</button>

<!-- Good -->
<button>Get Free Quote</button>
<button aria-label="Search website">🔍</button>

Color Contrast

Minimum contrast ratio:

Normal text: 4.5:1
Large text: 3:1
UI components: 3:1

Use WebAIM Contrast Checker
to verify.

Keyboard Navigation

Every interactive element must be reachable via Tab key:

/* Never do this */
:focus { outline: none; }

/* Do this instead */
:focus-visible {
  outline: 2px solid #0066cc;
  outline-offset: 2px;
}

Semantic HTML

<!-- Bad -->
<div class="nav">
  <div class="nav-item">About</div>
</div>

<!-- Good -->
<nav aria-label="Main navigation">
  <a href="/about">About</a>
</nav>

ARIA Labels

<!-- Bad -->
<a href="https://linkedin.com/in/adarshsharmadev">
  <svg>...</svg>
</a>

<!-- Good -->
<a 
  href="https://linkedin.com/in/adarshsharmadev"
  aria-label="Adarsh Sharma on LinkedIn"
  title="Adarsh Sharma - LinkedIn Profile"
  target="_blank"
  rel="noopener noreferrer"
>
  <svg aria-hidden="true">...</svg>
</a>

🛠 Tools to Audit Your Site Today

Tool	What It Checks	Free?
WAVE	Full accessibility audit	✅
axe DevTools	Browser extension	✅
Lighthouse	Accessibility score	✅
Color Oracle	Color blindness sim	✅
NVDA	Screen reader testing	✅

🎯 The 2026 Deadline — Your Action Plan

Q2 2025 (Now)   → Audit your current site with WAVE + Lighthouse
Q3 2025         → Fix critical issues (alt text, contrast, keyboard nav)
Q4 2025         → Implement ARIA labels, semantic HTML overhaul
Q1 2026         → Add Leichte Sprache (if targeting Germany)
June 2026       → BFSG deadline — be fully compliant

Final Thought

Don't just build a website. Build a bridge. 🌉

The developers who understand accessibility today will be
the ones building the most successful, legally compliant,
and globally reaching products tomorrow.

Accessibility is not a feature. It's the foundation.

Is your site ready for 2026? Drop a comment below and type AUDIT if you want a quick accessibility review
of your site, or YES if you're already compliant!👇

Written by Adarsh Sharma

Full Stack Engineer, Specialized in React, Next.js, TYPO3 & Web Accessibility

Visit: adarshsharma.dev
Inspired by: This post was inspired by Arun Solanki, whose insights on web accessibility sparked this conversation.

Follow for more posts on React, Next.js, Web Performance,
Accessibility, and AI-powered development.

WebAccessibility #WebDev #React #JavaScript #WCAG

Accessibility #ADA #BFSG #Frontend #SEO

How I Chose the Best Free CMS for My Next.js Portfolio (And Where to Host It)

Adarsh Sharma — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 13:46:45 +0000

When I started building my personal site adarshsharma.dev, I quickly realized I needed a CMS - not just for the blog, but to manage the entire website: hero sections, navigation, pages, media, everything.

Here's what I found after researching all the options.

The Problem with Most CMS Options
Most tutorials only show you how to manage a blog with a CMS. But what if you want to manage your entire site - landing page, about section, projects, navigation - all from one dashboard?

That narrowed my list down fast.

The Top 3 Free CMS Options for Next.js

1. 🏆 Payload CMS — Best Overall
Payload runs inside your Next.js app. No separate service, no vendor lock-in.

TypeScript native
Manage pages, content, media, navigation — everything
Completely free & open source
Needs: MongoDB Atlas (free) or Neon Postgres (free)

2. Sanity — Best Hosted Free Option

Free tier: 3 users, 10GB bandwidth, unlimited content types
Sanity Studio for visual full-page editing
No server needed — Sanity hosts the CMS UI for you
next-sanity package makes integration seamless

3. Keystatic — Best for Git-based Content

Stores content directly in your GitHub repo — no DB needed
Completely free forever
Works inside Next.js like Payload
Perfect if you want zero infra overhead

Why I Chose Payload CMS
For a personal site where I want full control, Payload was the clear winner:

ts// payload.config.ts
import { buildConfig } from 'payload/config'
import { Pages } from './collections/Pages'
import { Media } from './collections/Media'

export default buildConfig({
  collections: [Pages, Media],
  db: postgresAdapter({
    pool: { connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL },
  }),
})

You define your content structure in code. It generates the admin UI automatically. Clean, powerful, and 100% yours.

Where to Host Payload + Next.js (Free & Cheap Options)
Payload needs a Node.js server - so platforms like Vercel's free tier won't cut it for the backend.

My Recommended Stack for Personal Sites

Next.js + Payload → Railway (~$5/mo)
Database → Railway Postgres (included)
Media Storage → Cloudflare R2 (free up to 10GB)
Domain → Your own domain ✅

Why Railway?

One-click deploy from GitHub
Auto deploys on every push
Built-in Postgres
Simple dashboard — no DevOps needed
Pay only for what you use

Completely Free Stack (for experimenting)

Render (free tier) → ⚠️ Sleeps after 15 mins inactivity
Neon DB → Free Postgres (500MB)
Cloudflare R2 → Free media storage (10GB)
Fine for development. Not ideal for production.

Bonus: Don't Make My Google Search Console Mistake
While setting up my site, I tried to get my Instagram profile indexed via Google Search Console — and kept getting:

"URL not in property"

Turns out, GSC only lets you inspect and manage URLs under your own verified domain. You can't force-index social media profiles.
The fix? Add a visible link to your Instagram/socials from your verified domain. Google will follow it naturally.

TL;DR

Want a free CMS for your entire Next.js site? → Use Payload CMS
Need simple hosting with a DB? → Use Railway (~$5/mo)
On a zero budget? → Render free tier + Neon DB
Don't try to index Instagram in GSC → it won't work 😅

Building something with Next.js + Payload? Drop a comment - happy to help!
Follow me on Instagram , LinkedIn and Linktree for more dev content.

Connect at: https://adarshsharma.dev/

Tags: nextjs react nodejs cms webdev javascript beginners