You Can't See The Future If You're Blind
If you are a business owner, digital accessibility is essential to consider for your website. This article will explore how digital accessibility can affect your bottom line and how it could be the key to success in today's digital world.
What Is Digital Accessibility
Web accessibility is a phrase that describes how the web is presented to people with disabilities. This means that websites should be clear, easy to use, and functional for everyone.
Web accessibility applies to all digital devices like iPads, iPhones, laptops, and desktops. It also helps people with disabilities experience the full range of your content without difficulty or limitations in viewing.
Benefits Of Digital Accessibility
Some of the reasons why digital accessibility matter in your business are:
1. People are more and more connected digitally.
Digital accessibility is the key to success. This statement means you need to be accessible on digital devices for your business to thrive in today's world.
2. Accessible websites can help small businesses grow by making it easier for people to find and contact them online.
When people with disabilities have a digital experience that's accessible, they're more likely to become loyal customers and advocates of your website or product. This is one area that small businesses can't afford to ignore.
In other words, if you don't provide an accessible digital experience for all users as much as possible, it can lead to problems in the long run.
3. Web accessibility often leads to higher search engine rankings, placing the site on top of the search results.
Web accessibility is an excellent tool for search engine optimization. For Google, it's even more important that websites are accessible as they're one of the most common ways people find content online. Thus, prioritizing or ignoring it has a significant impact on your site's traffic levels.
4. Web accessibility is essential for your business because it affects many aspects of the company, such as its reputation and credibility.
People want to work with businesses that are inclusive and acknowledge diversity. It is a great way to increase your customer base, as well, so you can stay ahead of the competition.
5. Web accessibility increases digital inclusion.
Digital inclusion increases digital literacy for all people, regardless of ability or circumstance. For example, if a website has good content that a search engine can read and index, then the site will rank higher on Google than sites with inaccessible features.
6. Web accessibility increases eCommerce sales.
Increased web accessibility means higher conversion rates and increased revenue in the long run, not to mention an increase in customer loyalty when they know that their website can be accessed from any device at any time by anyone with a disability or impairment.
The Importance of Websites Being Accessible on Digital Devices
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines help web content producers create documents that everyone can read, regardless of their ability or device. They are made and maintained jointly by the World Wide Web Consortium (WIC), the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
Your site can maintain digital accessibility by ensuring that it complies with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The guidelines are comprehensive to cover a large number of scenarios, but they are not universally applicable. They include the following:
- Text is legible
- Links are not too close together that they can be easily pressed in sequence
- Images have alternative descriptive text
- Tables should not confuse their structure
- Make sure the site isn't too heavy and will work on various digital devices, such as tablets or mobile phones.
- Using formats like HTML text instead of images so screen readers can read information.
- Providing captions for videos and audio files.
- Ensure that the site is usable by people with low vision, color blindness, deafness, or motor disabilities.
- Providing keyboard navigation and using headings to make it easier for users to navigate through content.
*Note: the WCAG guidelines are not universally applicable to all digital devices, and there is a disparity between accessibility standards. Still, they can be used as a starting point for designing web content that is accessible by everyone.
