Some website designers are ignoring a large chunk of the potential audience of their business. That’s because some website visitors may not be able to consume your content due to a disability.
In fact, 56.7 million Americans (18.7% of the U.S. population) have some type of disability (Interactive Accessibility). Making your website accessible may be the easiest way to grow your audience and reach more customers for your business.
To make the internet a better place is to make the internet a more accessible place so that everyone reaching your website can have the best digital experience possible.
Help Disabled Internet Users Consume Your Content
What constitutes a good experience on the internet? An experience that is designed for everyone is a good place to start. Users that are unable to consume your content due to lack of navigational help, improper text sizes, poor color choices, and more, are less likely to work with your business, let alone make a return trip to your website.
There are specific web design standards and organizations such as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that outline and promote these standards. Essentially they are a communal set of tools and concepts which, when employed correctly, create consistent, beautiful, and easy-to-use websites.
Better Your Design to More Potential Customers
Not only is an accessible web design more inclusive, reaching more people on the internet, but it’s also more likely to be a beautiful design. Some web standards, such as color contrasts, set clear guidelines for designers. Using the wrong color overlay or gradient means that disabled users would be unable to read your content, but even non-disabled internet users may find the lack of contrast annoying or frustrating.
Businesses are always looking for more ways to expand their audience, and if nearly 20% of the internet is disabled, that means it’s likely you could grow your audience 20% by speaking directly to the needs of that disabled audience. They may notice your efforts and reward your business with leads or become valued customers.
Protect Your Site From Litigation in the Future
Disabled internet users aren’t the only people checking your site for accessibility. Lawyers may be checking on your accessibility as well. There may be a wave of accessibility litigation in the future, as more and more businesses have found themselves subject to lawsuits over an inaccessible website.
Protect your business from potential litigation by following the current web design standards to the best of your team’s ability. If you believe you’re coming up short, hire a team of website accessibility experts to help you. This is one area where cutting corners could hurt you down the road.
Make the Internet a More Accessible Place
One of the goals here at 3 Media Web is to make the internet a better place by building websites that are accessible to everyone. You can make your website better, and open your business up to a wider audience at the same time by making a few changes to make it accessible.
Build the best digital experience possible by adding these accessibility basics into your website design process.