Placing Patients First. How Arttia Creative make Healthcare Websites Inclusive for Patients
Healthcare websites need to work for everyone. You need your website to be 'accessible'.
An accessible website. In practice, accessible healthcare websites require careful thought, specialist knowledge and an understanding of the many different ways people experience the digital world. As well as technical checks and testing.
A patient visiting a healthcare website may have impaired vision, reduced mobility, dyslexia or another cognitive difference. They may rely on a screen reader or navigate using a keyboard rather than a mouse. They may be older, unfamiliar with digital technology or accessing important information on a small mobile screen.
Arttia Creative has a distinctive process to deliver and support an 'accessible' website. We understand that patients may also be worried, tired or trying to understand complicated healthcare information at a difficult moment in their lives. Friends and family may be researching and trying to understand what is happening.
That’s why accessibility isn’t an optional addition to healthcare website design.
Website Accessibility is fundamental to putting patients first.
At Arttia Creative, accessibility shapes how we structure, design and develop healthcare websites. It’s about reducing unnecessary barriers so that more people can find, understand and act upon the information they need.
Accessibility starts with understanding people.
Accessible website design begins with recognising that people experience websites differently.
No single ‘typical’ patient exists. This is where our audience profiling comes into play.
People have different physical abilities, cognitive abilities, levels of digital confidence and ways of interacting with technology. Designing inclusively means considering those differences from the outset rather than designing for one idealised user and making adjustments afterwards.
That influences seemingly simple decisions.
- Is the text easy to read?
- Is there enough contrast between text and its background?
- Can users easily identify links and buttons?
- Is navigation predictable?
- Can someone understand the page without relying entirely on colour or imagery?
Thes are just a few of the considerations needed. These individual decisions combine to create an experience that either welcomes people in or places barriers in their way.
Experienced human designers understand that accessibility isn’t simply a technical exercise. It’s a design responsibility.
Clear information is part of accessible design.
Healthcare information can be complicated.
Medical terminology, treatments, procedures, clinical services and patient pathways can be difficult to understand even before accessibility requirements are considered.
Good healthcare website design helps create order from that complexity.
Clear headings help visitors understand a page's structure. Shorter sections help make information easier to process. Thoughtful spacing creates visual breathing room. Meaningful links help people understand where they’re going before they click, tab or ask to navigate your website.
The hierarchy of information matters too.
A patient looking for an appointment shouldn’t have to navigate through layers of organisational information to find out how to make one.
Someone researching a treatment should be able to distinguish essential information from supporting detail.
This is where professional healthcare website design, accessibility considerations and inclusion become inseparable.
The objective isn’t to simplify healthcare information. It’s to communicate sophisticated information more clearly.
Accessibility should be designed from the start, not added on at the end of a project, or after the healthcare website is live.
One of the most effective ways to create an accessible healthcare website is to build accessibility in from the start.
Retrofitting accessibility after a website has been designed and developed can lead to compromises.
When it’s considered from the outset, accessibility influences everything from information architecture and page layouts to colour palettes, typography and website development.
It can shape how menus operate, how forms are structured, how images are described and how interactive elements behave.
This integrated approach creates a better experience for everyone.
Accessible navigation benefits someone using assistive technology, but it also helps a busy parent who needs to find information quickly on a mobile phone.
Clear typography can support people with visual impairments while making information easier for every visitor to read.
Well-structured pages help screen readers interpret content and make long or complex healthcare information easier for sighted visitors to scan.
Inclusive design often creates a better experience for everyone, including Google and Agentic Search.
Human designers notice the details.
Standards and accessibility testing are important, but creating genuinely inclusive digital experiences also requires human judgement.
Experienced healthcare designers spend their careers understanding how visual communication influences behaviour.
They notice when a page feels overwhelming.
They recognise when important information gets lost in a layout.
They understand how typography, colour, imagery, spacing and hierarchy affect the way people absorb information.
And they can consider those decisions within the wider emotional context of healthcare.
A healthcare website isn’t the same as an ecommerce website or entertainment platform.
The person on the other side of the screen may be searching for information about their own health or the health of somebody they care about.
Healthcare designers need to understand that context.
At Arttia Creative, our experience across healthcare, biotech and life sciences helps us combine creative communication with an appreciation of complex scientific and medical subject matter.
Our goal isn’t simply to make healthcare websites look good.
It’s to make your healthcare website work well for the people who need it.
Accessibility builds trust.
Trust is fundamental to healthcare communication. Brand trust, product trust and authentic information.
Someone's experience with a healthcare organisation can begin long before they speak to a clinician or arrive for an appointment.
It can begin with a Google search, AI search, ChatGPT discussions and your website.
A confusing navigation system, unreadable text, inaccessible form or poorly structured page can create frustration and uncertainty. Do they understand and trust your brand and your business?
A clear, professional and accessible website creates a very different impression.
It demonstrates consideration and that you care.
Accessibility shows your organisation has thought about the people who will use your products and services, not just the information you publish.
For private healthcare providers, clinics, medical organisations and healthcare companies, this can make accessibility an important part of the wider brand experience.
Your healthcare website says something about how you approach people.
Inclusive design helps make that message positive.
Accessibility is best when it is a human process.
Technology can test many aspects of website accessibility, but software alone can’t fully determine whether an experience makes sense to another human being.
That’s why accessibility works best as a combination of good standards, careful development, testing and experienced human review. People matter.
Designers and developers ask detailed and relevant questions throughout the design process. For example:
- Does the navigation make sense?
- Can someone quickly understand the purpose of this page?
- Is the journey between identifying a service and contacting the organisation unnecessarily complicated?
- Are we relying on a visual device that some visitors may not be able to perceive?
- Are forms clear about what information is required?
These questions require people to think about other people. The person behind the visit.
And that remains one of the most valuable skills a designer can bring to a healthcare website project.
So where does 'AI' fit into accessible healthcare websites?
AI is increasingly being used to generate website copy, imagery, summaries and other digital content.
It can be a useful supporting tool, but automatically generated information shouldn’t replace thoughtful human review—particularly in healthcare.
AI-generated information may lack context or nuance, introduce inaccuracies, or produce language that appears clear but fails to communicate appropriately for the intended patient audience. AI content may not withstand regulatory rigour and medical scrutiny.
Automated accessibility tools have limitations too. Don't rely on AI or automation for your website accessibility; LLM agents can’t fully understand whether information feels reassuring, whether a patient journey is confusing or whether a visual communication genuinely helps someone understand a complicated healthcare subject.
Human judgement remains essential.
Put patients first.
By considering different abilities, technologies, circumstances and levels of understanding, healthcare organisations can create digital experiences that allow more people to access the information and services they need.
At Arttia Creative, we combine specialist healthcare design, website development and many years of creative communication experience to build digital experiences around real people.
We understand that the details matter.
From typography and colour contrast to navigation, information hierarchy and content structure, every decision can make a website easier — or harder — for someone to use.
When healthcare ventures put accessibility at the heart of their digital presence, they do more than create better websites.
They create a more inclusive route to healthcare.
And that means placing patients exactly where they should be: at the top.
Is your healthcare website as accessible as it should be?
Accessibility is no longer something to consider later. It needs to be built into the way your healthcare website is structured, designed and developed from the outset.
If you’re planning a new healthcare website, redesigning an existing platform or concerned that your current site may be creating unnecessary barriers for patients, now is the time to review it properly.
At Arttia Creative, we work with healthcare, life science and biotech organisations to create accessible, high-performing websites that balance usability, clarity, compliance and brand impact.
We take a consultative approach, helping you identify where improvements are needed, prioritise the right actions and create a website experience that works for more people without compromising on design quality.
If accessibility is becoming a priority for your organisation, speak to us early. The sooner it’s considered, the more effectively it can shape the project — and the easier it is to avoid costly changes later.
Belinda White | Creative Director