The Accessibility Strengthening Act (Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz, BFSG) is rapidly approaching us. And what is also clear is that we are moving just as quickly towards an increasingly inclusive economy. Since this area is an important social issue, but also offers incredible opportunities for companies and the people concerned, we are following up our first insight on inclusive recruiting processes by presenting the ultimate checklist for accessibility and successfully converting career pages in this article. In combination. And it has to be said – at the same time, the measures have a huge return on investment for your recruiting and your employer branding. Yes, huge describes the cost-benefit factor quite precisely.
Checklist: Inclusive careers page
As the requirements from the section ‘How to make your careers site accessible for disabled job seekers’ from our first Insight could overwhelm some companies, we have put together a checklist here that presents the whole thing more compactly. In addition, we have added the points feedback and employer branding and then listed useful tools for implementation.
Technical requirements
✅ Comply with WCAG 2.1 standards: Ensure that all content is accessible to assistive technologies
✅ Alternative texts: Provide images and graphics with precise alt tags.
✅ Check contrasts: Use tools like Contrast Checker to ensure legible colour contrasts.
✅ Test keyboard controls: All functions should be operable without a mouse.
✅ Make multimedia content accessible: Provide videos with subtitles and audio descriptions.
Content and structure
✅ Simple language: Avoid complex terms and formulate short and concise sentences.
✅ Easy-to-understand language: Offer an additional option for users, e.g. in a separate section.
✅ Clear structure: Structure content clearly, with meaningful headings and sufficient white space.
✅ Flexible application formats Enable applications by email, phone or post.
Forms and processes
✅ Accessible forms: Clearly label labels and instructions, no unnecessary mandatory fields.
✅ Clearly formulate error messages: Provide specific instructions for correction, e.g. ‘Please enter a valid email address’.
✅ Clearly place offers of help A visible hint on how applicants can request adjustments.
Communication and feedback
✅ Name a contact person: Provide a trained point of contact for questions about accessibility.
✅ Include a feedback form: Actively ask applicants about obstacles and for suggestions for improvement.
✅ Regular review: Have the accessibility of the site tested by external experts at least annually.
Employer Branding
✅ Authentic stories: If available, include testimonials from employees with disabilities.
✅ Inclusive visuals: Use images and videos of diverse teams.
✅ Accessible job descriptions: State clear and concise requirements, do not set unnecessarily high thresholds.
Practical tools for implementation
- Wave Accessibility Tool: Checks your site for barriers such as missing alt text or insufficient contrast.
- axe DevTools: A plugin for automated checking of accessibility standards directly in the browser.
- Adobe Acrobat Pro: Supports the creation of accessible PDFs.
- Silktide Accessibility: A tool that creates accessibility reports for your website.
- Siteimprove: Continuously monitors accessibility and provides suggestions for optimisation.
- myAbility.org: A platform that helps companies develop inclusive processes and career pages.
- NVDA or JAWS: Test your site with screen readers to ensure that content is read aloud correctly.
Elements of a converting careers site
Now, let's move on to the successful design of career pages. Unfortunately, many companies still waste valuable potential and quite simply hard-earned money, which could be spent on higher recruiting budgets.
The following elements have proven to be essential or useful in practice and can be found on the best career pages in the world.
01. Header
02. Introduction
03. Awards, logos and recognition
04. Corporate culture and values
05. Employees/teams: testimonials and stories
06. Benefits and incentives
07. Search function/vacancies
08. Talent network
09. Recruitment process flow
10. FAQs
Let's now analyse the meaning of the individual sections, what they should contain and what organisations should pay more attention to.
01. Appealing header
Welcome! The header welcomes new talent and sets the initial tone for your company and the rest of the careers page. Like a good headline, it must spark interest and encourage people to read on. How can you do that? In a word: emotions! And there are two ways to do this:
✅ Integrate employer branding: What does your company stand for? What is the promise, the why and the purpose? Bold and courageous statements inspire and attract attention.
✅ Make a visual impact: Images and videos have a direct effect, especially when they are lively. Ideally, they reflect the spirit of the company.
02. Introduction to the corporate world
After you have captivated potential candidates with an appealing header, the introduction serves to invite them into the world of the company.
✅ Employer branding meets employee value proposition: Incorporate both aspects into your story to show why your company is unique. And how talents can grow and flourish with you.
✅ Authenticity is king: This is key. Let your company's tone and personality shine through without resorting to ‘corporate jargon’.
✅ Conciseness and clarity: Keep your introduction short and clear and be sure to avoid overwhelming candidates with too much information up front.
03. Awards, logos and recognition
A career site is no different than a product landing page. Familiar brands, logos and awards inspire trust. If you have any of these, put them on your career site.
✅ Think of a landing page: Place logos of awards and recognitions in a prominent place (above the fold) on your career site. This directly promotes to candidates that they are dealing with a first-class employer.
✅ Relevance: Highlight awards that are relevant to companies. For example, awards such as ‘LinkedIn Top Company’, ‘Gender Equality Index’ or ‘Kununu Top Company’.
04. Corporate culture and values
Culture is crucial and this part is one of the most important areas of the careers site – if not the most important part. People are not only looking for a job, but also for a community in which they can develop and in which cooperation works at the highest level – and may even be really fun. This is where your corporate culture comes into its own.
✅ Vivid and lively descriptions: Choose the appropriate language to paint a picture of your company's culture. What makes the workplace unique? What about team spirit, innovation, mentoring, advanced training or work-life balance?
✅ Practical examples: Show how the culture and its values are lived out in day-to-day operations. Highlight team events, innovative projects and employee engagement that reflect your core values.
✅ Authenticity: Be sure to present an authentic portrayal of your work environment. Authenticity is everything!
✅ Diversity and inclusion: Is your company a diverse and inclusive workplace? Highlight that prominently.
✅ Consistency across all channels: Make sure that the way you present your corporate culture is consistent across other channels such as social media or brochures.
05. Employees/teams: testimonials and stories
The people in a company are, of course, the lifeblood of any organisation. Their stories and testimonials are one of the most authentic ways to promote your company's culture and values.
✅ Diverse perspectives: Let employees from different departments, age groups and backgrounds have their say. This diversity ensures that candidates can identify with them and see themselves as part of your team.
✅ Authentic narratives: Encourage your staff to share real experiences and their career paths in the company. With the highs and lows. Because the authenticity of these stories is the be-all and end-all.
✅ Growth and opportunities: Use the ups and downs of these stories to show personal and professional growth (this is also a classic element of success in stories). This ensures that it is clear what opportunities there are for advancement in your company and what skills can be developed – we hope there are plenty of them in your company.
✅ Visual storytelling: Nothing beats the use of photos, videos and graphics that bring your values to life. Think of a film trailer for a blockbuster movie. It is emotions that inspire us humans.
06. Benefits and incentives
In addition to salary and the desire for flexibility, benefits and incentives strongly influence the decision of talented people. That's why your offer must be clear and transparent. Flexible working hours, training opportunities and health programmes (employee wellbeing) are at the top of the wish list of employees.
✅ Unique offers: Do you offer unique or unusual benefits? Or ones that are particularly suitable for your culture? Highlight everything that makes your company stand out. Innovative wellness programmes or special career development opportunities show how much you care about your employees – and are a strong advertisement for your corporate culture.
✅ Visual representation: Again, the visual aspect is strong here – appealing graphics or icons stand out to visually represent incentives and benefits. It makes the whole thing much more attractive and unlikely to be misunderstood.
✅ Personal stories: Share authentic employee testimonials about how they have benefited from these perks. This makes the benefits more tangible and the value more powerful.
07. Search function/link to available positions
The careers page is, of course, the page where candidates want to find out how to pursue a career with your company. In other words, what positions would make that possible.
✅ Integration of open positions: Integrate a form field to search for open positions or at least a link to the respective job page. Make it as easy as possible for talented people to find your open positions.
✅ Encouraging applications: Motivate people to take action with an inspiring call-to-action (see Fig. 2).
08. Talent network
Are potential candidates not yet ready for the next career step? Don't waste any potential at this point and secure their contact details.
✅ Talent network: Offer potential candidates the opportunity to sign up for your talent network. You could state the following as a reason for signing up: job alerts, company updates, industry news, career advice, etc.
09. Application process
Transparency helps – especially in hiring processes, which often seem like a black box. This is also where you can score points with many people and greatly enhance your employer branding – because for most companies, these are non-transparent and uncertain processes that generate a lot of frustration and come to light via social media.
✅ Transparent hiring process: A clear and detailed explanation of your hiring process helps potential candidates to understand what to expect, when and in what form.
10. FAQs
The frequently asked questions round off your career page. Most of the open questions are answered here. This will make candidates and external recruiters your friends.
✅ Don't forget the FAQs: This will make candidates and external recruiters happy and give you one last chance to shine as a company that takes care of questions and requests.
Conclusion
With this checklist, you have everything you need to create strong and converting career pages that are also barrier-free and inclusive. This will ensure that you welcome talented individuals with open arms and reach candidates who offer no less potential but who are often neglected – by companies and by society.
But this stops right here. We wish you every success with the implementation – and if you need support, we are happy to here from you!
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