BetterWorld
Looking to build a more effective fundraising campaign? Our team is here to give you more details and guides on how to grow your fundraiser.
Request a demo

Donation page accessibility checklist for nonprofits before giving season

Team BetterWorld

Giving season brings more attention to your donation page, and small accessibility barriers can keep a supporter from completing a gift. Low-contrast text, missing form labels, unclear error messages, and buttons that cannot be reached by keyboard may seem minor, but they can block people from giving.

That affects a significant share of the public: more than 1 in 4 U.S. adults, or 28.7%, has some type of disability. The timing matters, too. Nonprofits received 37% of their 2025 online revenue in December, and 4% of annual online revenue arrived on December 31 alone.

Before this peak fundraising period begins, check that accessibility barriers won’t stand between supporters and a completed gift.

Use the following donation page accessibility checklist before Giving Tuesday, year-end appeals, or any major campaign to find and remove common barriers and make giving easier for every supporter.

Donation page accessibility: quick answer

An accessible nonprofit donation page lets people understand the appeal, move through the form, choose a gift, enter information, correct errors, make a payment, and receive confirmation using different devices and assistive technologies.

For a practical technical benchmark, nonprofits should work toward WCAG 2.2 Level AA. W3C recommends using the current WCAG version when developing or updating accessibility policies.

The U.S. Department of Justice also points organizations to WCAG as useful technical guidance for web accessibility.

This work deserves a real review rather than a quick visual check. In WebAIM's 2026 analysis of one million popular home pages, 95.9% had automatically detectable WCAG failures. Low-contrast text appeared on 83.9%, while 51% had missing form labels. Automated testing catches only part of the accessibility picture, so manual testing is highly important.

Donation page accessibility checklist

Use this first pass to review what donors see and read before they enter payment information.

Check

What your nonprofit should review

Pass when…

☐ Page title and headings

Give the page a descriptive title and use headings in a logical order.

A donor or screen-reader user can quickly understand that this is the donation page and move between sections. W3C recommends descriptive headings and labels.

☐ Text contrast

Check campaign copy, amounts, field labels, error text, buttons, and footer text.

Normal text has at least 4.5:1 contrast; large text has at least 3:1.

☐ Color is not the only cue

Review required fields, selected donation amounts, errors, and success states.

Meaning is also communicated through text, icons, borders, or another visible cue. DOJ specifically identifies color-only form information as an accessibility barrier.

☐ Images have useful alternatives

Check your hero image, impact graphics, sponsor logos, and campaign visuals.

Meaningful images have useful alt text; decorative images do not add unnecessary screen-reader noise.

☐ Videos are accessible

Review campaign videos and embedded media.

Prerecorded spoken content has captions, and important visual information is not available only through the video.

☐ Plain, direct copy

Read the appeal, donation choices, fee language, privacy language, and calls to action.

Donors can tell what they are giving to, what happens next, and what each button does without decoding jargon. Clear headings and labels are part of WCAG guidance.

BetterWorld option: BetterWorld donation forms let you customize the giving experience for your campaign and supporters. Adjust donation amounts, giving periods, button text, colors, and campaign messaging. Use these options to explain donation choices clearly, make the next step easy to understand, and choose colors with readable contrast.

Donation form and checkout checklist

The form deserves special attention because this is where accessibility issues directly interfere with completing a gift.

Check

What to verify

☐ Every field has a visible label

Do not depend on placeholder text such as “Email” or “Card number” as the only label. W3C recommends properly associated labels so browsers and assistive technology can identify each control.

☐ Required fields are clearly identified

Say “required” in text or provide another understandable indicator, and identify the requirement programmatically.

☐ Ask only for information you need

Keep optional questions to a minimum. W3C notes that simple, shorter forms are generally easier to complete and that excessive fields can contribute to abandonment.

☐ Group related choices

Donation amounts, giving frequency, tribute options, and similar controls should be presented as understandable groups.

☐ Errors explain the problem

Do not show a red border alone. State what went wrong, identify the field, and explain how to fix it.

☐ Success messages are announced

After payment, donors should receive a clear confirmation that the gift succeeded. Dynamic status messages should also be available to assistive technology.

☐ Donors do not re-enter the same data unnecessarily

In multi-step checkout, reuse information already supplied when possible. WCAG 2.2 added Redundant Entry specifically to reduce repeated input and cognitive effort.

☐ Account creation is not an unnecessary barrier

Avoid forcing donors through passwords or difficult authentication when the transaction does not require it. WCAG 2.2 includes accessible-authentication requirements for login processes.

With BetterWorld, nonprofits can add custom questions to donation forms, including required questions. Treat that flexibility carefully: add a question because your organization needs the answer, not simply because the field is available.

BetterWorld also supports guest participation on campaigns where an account is not required, which reduces the need for every donor to create a password before completing a transaction.

Check donation page accessibility on keyboards, phones, and screen readers

52% of nonprofit website visits in 2025 came from mobile devices, yet mobile accounted for only 43% of donation transactions and 28% of online revenue.

Before launch, complete these tests:

Check

What to verify

☐ Put the mouse away.

Use Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter, Space, and arrow keys to move through the entire giving process. Every interactive feature should be keyboard-accessible, with a logical order and visible focus.

☐ Check every button and control on a phone.

WCAG 2.2 Level AA sets a 24 × 24 CSS pixel minimum target size, subject to specified exceptions. For a more comfortable touch experience, larger targets can be useful.

☐ Test zoom and narrow screens.

Confirm that labels, fields, amounts, fee prompts, privacy text, and the final donation button remain readable and usable without important content disappearing. WCAG includes requirements covering text resizing and reflow.

☐ Test with a screen reader.

Listen to the page title, headings, donation amounts, giving frequency, field labels, errors, payment choices, and confirmation message rather than reviewing the visual interface alone. W3C notes that automated tools cannot identify every accessibility problem.

☐ Test pop-ups and embedded forms in context.

Keyboard focus should move into a modal when appropriate and return logically when it closes; donors should not become trapped. WCAG covers keyboard access, focus order, and keyboard traps.

Pro Tip: BetterWorld donation forms can accept credit/debit cards, ACH, DAFpay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and Venmo, subject to account and payment-method setup. Check out BetterWorld payment methods.

Final donation page accessibility checks before giving season

Run this final review before sending the first campaign email, social post, QR code, or Giving Tuesday appeal.

Test

Done

Complete a $5 test donation on desktop

☐

Complete the same test on iPhone and Android-sized screens

☐

Complete the page using keyboard only

☐

Run an automated accessibility scanner, then manually review the page

☐

Check all text and button contrast

☐

Listen to the donation flow with a screen reader

☐

Trigger an empty required field and an invalid field to review errors

☐

Test one-time and recurring donation choices

☐

Test each enabled payment method

☐

Check the thank-you page and emailed receipt

☐

Ask a person who did not build the page to make a test gift

☐

Repeat the test after major design, form, embed, or checkout changes

☐

Do not treat a clean automated scan as a complete pass. WebAIM states that automated tools cannot detect every WCAG failure and that the absence of automated errors does not prove that a page is accessible.

Make giving simpler this season with BetterWorld

Your supporters should be able to choose a gift amount, select a payment method, and receive confirmation without unnecessary steps. BetterWorld donation forms bring these parts of the giving experience together while reducing setup and follow-up work for your team.

Choose embedded, pop-up, or linked donation forms to reach supporters through your website, campaign emails, social posts, or QR codes.

You can also prepare for giving season without paying for a software subscription. BetterWorld’s Free Forever Plan includes its fundraising tools without hidden feature limitations and is supported by optional donor contributions.

Request a demo to see how BetterWorld can simplify donation forms, recurring giving, and campaign management for your nonprofit.

Raise more. Keep more.
Do more good.

  • Modern fundraising tools built for every campaign.

  • Save time with one platform for events, donation forms, and more.

  • Delight donors with beautiful, easy-to-use giving experiences.

  • Expert support and strategy whenever you need it.

Raise more with BetterWorld

Donation page accessibility FAQs

1. What is donation page accessibility?

Donation page accessibility means people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, complete, and confirm an online donation using tools such as keyboards, screen readers, magnification, or voice input.

2. What WCAG level should a nonprofit donation page target?

WCAG 2.2 Level AA is a practical target for nonprofit teams updating donation experiences. W3C also advises using WCAG 2.2 for current accessibility work.

3. Should a donation page work without a mouse?

Yes. Donors should be able to reach and operate links, fields, buttons, payment controls, and other interactive elements with a keyboard, with visible focus and a logical focus order.

4. Is a mobile-friendly donation page automatically accessible?

No. Responsive design helps with screen size, but accessibility also covers contrast, keyboard use, form labels, focus, errors, semantic structure, assistive technology, and other requirements.

5. Does an accessible nonprofit website guarantee an accessible donation form?

No. The form may come from a separate donation platform or payment provider. Test the actual giving flow, including any embedded form, pop-up, and payment step.

Get started on your next campaign

Join 100,000+ amazing nonprofits, organizations, and fundraisers on BetterWorld.

Get started free →

Related posts

Start a Fundraiser