Peter Moricz considers whether animal charities are quietly excluding their most generous supporters. Older Australians give more than any other group, yet the websites built to move them are often the hardest for them to use. The mismatch costs the sector, and most of the fixes are simpler than people think.

A few months ago, I was asked to help a small dog-and-cat rescue charity migrate its website from a supplier they were unhappy with. The new site was fresh, full of rich, interesting content, and the team behind it was deeply passionate about their mission. Yet, despite their efforts, website traffic was low, and donations were coming in slower than expected. 

As a web developer and accessibility consultant who also happens to share a home with several rescued animals, I’ve always felt a personal connection to the causes I support. Working on that project made me wonder whether something less obvious was holding them back. Something that wasn’t about SEO or social media reach, but about who was able to use their site comfortably in the first place. 

Making your mission accessible to everyone 

At our accessibility forums and industry meetups a common thread is why digital inclusion is critical for government portals, banks, and utility providers. While we focus heavily on compliance and how inaccessible sites exclude millions of Australians, we often see small businesses and non-profits left behind. For these smaller players, the barrier isn’t usually a lack of will, but rather a lack of specialised knowledge, tight budgets, or working with developers who haven’t yet mastered accessible design.  

Even without digging too deep, I quickly noticed a few accessibility issues on the site: 

  • Light grey body text on a white background reduced legibility. 
  • Main headings were placed on banner images, which made them harder to read. 
  • Important contact details were displayed prominently at the top of each page, but the small font size, tight spacing, and low contrast made them difficult to see clearly. 
  • Button shapes, sizes, and label styles varied across the site, which could confuse users about their purpose. 

For many animal charities, their website is not just an information hub but the heart of their fundraising. It’s where supporters meet the animals, read their stories, and, hopefully, click that “Donate” button. If that digital experience is not inclusive, many people who are most likely to support them could be left behind, quite literally unable to read and navigate their website or complete a donation form. 

These findings made me wonder whether such challenges are unique to this website, or if similar patterns appear across other charity sites as well. I did some more research into not only their design, but their donor demographics too. 

Who gives and why it matters 

The data tells us something powerful about generosity in Australia. Roy Morgan’s 2024–25 research found that around 58% of Australians aged 14 and over donated to charity in the past year, giving an average of nearly $600 each. Behind those averages, however, is an even more revealing trend that’s remained consistent for years: older Australians are the most reliable and generous donors. 

In earlier Roy Morgan reports and similar studies from the Melbourne Institute, people aged 55 and over were shown to give more frequently, to larger effect, and to a wider range of causes. They are not only more financially stable but often more community-minded and motivated by empathy, particularly toward causes that align with compassion, care, and responsibility, like animal welfare. 

With Australia’s population steadily ageing – more than 4.2 million people are now aged 65 or older – this demographic represents not just a key audience, but the very backbone of charitable giving. And yet, many of them face barriers when engaging with the digital world, when websites aren’t designed with accessibility in mind. 

Designing with inclusion in mind 

While the data clearly shows that older Australians are generous, it also highlights a growing digital divide. As technology becomes an essential part of daily life, many older people experience difficulties that can turn an act of generosity into a moment of frustration. 

  • As eyesight changes with age, text that is too small, has poor contrast, or placed against a decorative background becomes difficult or impossible to read. Many charity sites, full of bright colours, heartwarming photos, and overlapping design elements, unintentionally make this worse.  
  • Sticky banners and pop-ups can cover main content when a user enlarges the text, forcing them to hunt for buttons that have moved or disappeared. 
  • Motor skills also decline with age, and what might seem like a simple interaction – clicking a small checkbox, dragging an image to confirm “I’m not a robot,” or tapping a small donation amount on a mobile phone – can become surprisingly challenging. Some older users experience tremors or reduced dexterity, and those repeated, precise movements can be tiring. 
  • Cognitive load: Many older people describe feeling lost on websites that constantly shift or refresh, where content rearranges itself before they can finish reading. A donation form that times out too quickly or an unlabelled button might not seem like much, but for someone navigating more slowly or using assistive tools, these are genuine barriers. 
  • Another common side effect of ageing is hearing loss. Websites that rely on emotional video storytelling but omit captions or transcripts effectively exclude those people from engaging fully with the charity’s message. 

It’s not all grim – turning empathy into design 

The encouraging part of this story is that the solutions already exist. Digital accessibility is not a mystery, it’s a well-established practice grounded in empathy, inclusion, and human-centred design. 

There are some low effort, high impact changes that charities can make to greatly improve their website’s accessibility: 

  • Font size: have at least 16px for body text as a good baseline for readability 
  • Line height: set the line height to 1.5 times the font size 
  • Colour contrast: make sure the colour contrast between 
  • regular text (e.g. body copy) and the background is at least 4.5:1 
  • large text (e.g. headings) and the background is at least 3:1 
  • icons and other non-text UI elements and the background is at least 3:1 
  • Touch target size: buttons, form inputs and other interactive elements are at least 24 by 24 pixels (Apple and Google interface guidelines suggest at least 44 by 44 pixels) 
  • Interactive elements are keyboard accessible: all interactive elements (like buttons, links, and form inputs) should work with a keyboard alone. If an element only works with a mouse, many users can’t use it.  
  • Well-structured content: Organise content into smaller sections and use headings that follow a clear logical and visual hierarchy, with heading levels and styles indicating the relative importance of each section 
  • Resize: use responsive design to ensure your content and layout adjusts to different screen sizes and zoom levels  

When we build websites that are easy to see, navigate, and understand, we don’t just make them compliant with standards like WCAG, we make them welcoming and inclusive. 

By improving accessibility, charities can ensure that everyone, regardless of age or ability, can connect emotionally and act on that connection. 

Accessible websites also tend to perform better overall. They load faster, rank higher in search results, and create smoother experiences for all users, not just those with specific needs. Simpler forms, clearer text, and consistent navigation improve trust and reduce friction. 

Accessibility, at its heart, is empathy translated into design, the same empathy that drives people to rescue, adopt, foster, or donate. When those values align, technology stops being a barrier and becomes a bridge. 

Check out Intopia’s free resources for an overview and better understanding of digital accessibility: