.png&w=3840&q=75)
Why the Backrooms feels a little too familiar
If you’re probably going “What does the horror movie Backrooms have to do with accessibility?”, hear me out. The Backrooms is built on a simple kind of horror: endless rooms, confusing paths, repetitive spaces, harsh lighting, no obvious exits, and a constant feeling that you missed something important.
Now replace the yellow walls with a website.
You land on a page and don’t know where to go.
The buttons don’t look like buttons.
The labels don’t explain anything.
The error messages are vague.
The page structure is messy.
The contrast is too weak.
The navigation keeps sending you in loops.
That’s not just bad UX. That’s an accessibility problem.
An inaccessible website can feel like a maze where only some people are given the map. Everyone else is left to guess.
Who gets trapped by inaccessible design
An inaccessible web experience affects different users in different ways.
A screen reader user might move through a page and hear “button, button, link, image” with no useful context. A keyboard-only user might get stuck inside a modal with no way to escape. A low-vision user might struggle to separate text from background because the contrast is too faint. A user with cognitive disabilities might feel overwhelmed by unclear instructions, hidden steps, or inconsistent layouts.
Even users without permanent disabilities can feel the impact. Think about trying to use a poorly designed form on a phone, in bright sunlight, with one hand, while rushing. Accessibility issues become usability issues very quickly.
That’s why accessibility is not just about compliance - It helps people move through your platform without feeling lost.
If you want a deeper look at common blockers, Wally has a guide on how to fix the most common accessibility issues found in new websites.
How to spot “Backrooms energy” on your own website
You do not need to be an accessibility expert to notice when a website is confusing. Start by looking for places where users might feel stuck.
Ask yourself:
- Can users tell where they are on the site?
- Is there a clear next step on every important page?
- Can users navigate without a mouse?
- Do links and buttons clearly describe what they do?
- Is the contrast strong enough to distinguish content?
- Are form errors specific and easy to recover from?
- Does the page still make sense when read by a screen reader?
If the answer is “not really,” your site may be giving users the same feeling as a hallway that never ends.
For a more practical testing workflow, you can also read Wally’s guide on how to conduct accessibility testing before launch without experts.
Make your website less scary to navigate
The Backrooms is fun as horror. It is not a good design strategy.
If your users are wandering through your site unsure where they are, what to do next, or how to complete a task, that is a sign your accessibility and UX need attention.
Wally can help you fix that. Use Wally’s Chrome Extension or VS Code Extension to catch common accessibility issues early, or book a free consultation with our team for a deeper audit and remediation roadmap. We’ll help make your platform easier to navigate, easier to understand, and much less likely to feel like an endless hallway with fluorescent lights.
Because people should not need survival instincts to use your website.