5 Reasons Why Accessibility is Important for Your Business
May 12, 2021
Have you stopped to think whether your company’s website is accessible to people with disabilities? If not, it is time that you do.
The Department of Justice issued some guidelines in 2018, requiring businesses to take into account disabled and impaired customers not only in their establishments but also in their websites. These guidelines are consistent with the core values of the Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA, which was passed in 1990, a time before the emergence of the internet and digital technology.
But beyond satisfying your obligations, having an ADA-compliant website offers many benefits. It is important to understand these benefits so you can leverage each one of them.
It Improves Accessibility for All Users
In a recent study, almost 98% of the world’s top one million websites are noncompliant with the ADA guidelines. These websites are not designed for users with learning, cognitive, hearing, vision, and other disabilities, leaving much room for improvement.
Making your website compliant will make it easier for the disability community to interact with your brand, but ultimately, it will improve the user experience for all visitors. This will help you reach a wider range of audiences, which means more high-quality leads for your business.
It Allows You to Reach More People with Purchasing Power
Just like non-disabled people, people with disabilities also need online access to products and services. It is important to note that they also have massive purchasing power. To tap into this market, you must create a website where they can interact with your brand, buy your products, or hire your services with ease. You must treat this capability to serve all customers as a necessity and not just an added feature.
It Helps Improve Your SEO Strategy
Enhancing the functionality and navigability of your website is at the core of web compliance. This includes actions like transcribing audio files, adding alt text to images, adding captions to videos, and providing text or audio descriptions for video content.
All these steps make it easier for any user to interact with your content, disability or not. This also makes it easier for search engines like Google to crawl your site, giving your pages higher organic rankings and putting your brand in front of all your target audience.
It Helps Save Your Business from Hefty Fines and Penalties
When the ADA-compliant guidelines were introduced in 2018, the number of lawsuits against websites and mobile apps for non-compliance doubled. Many industries were involved, but the majority of them came from the restaurant and retail industries.
This emerging trend puts the focus on web compliance and stresses the importance of having a website that accommodates all users. To avoid thousands in fines and penalties, make sure that your website is compliant.
It Will Help You Do the Right Thing
Beyond all the practical and financial benefits, having a compliant website can give you peace of mind. It sends out strong signals on your company’s commitment to fairness and equal opportunities. You can sleep soundly at night knowing that you are doing the right thing.
The Department of Justice issued some guidelines in 2018, requiring businesses to take into account disabled and impaired customers not only in their establishments but also in their websites. These guidelines are consistent with the core values of the Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA, which was passed in 1990, a time before the emergence of the internet and digital technology.
But beyond satisfying your obligations, having an ADA-compliant website offers many benefits. It is important to understand these benefits so you can leverage each one of them.