4 Ways Accessible Digital Design Improves Business Outcomes
By: Kriti Krishan
Tags: Business, Digital Strategy, Web Development, Business Development, Marketing Strategies

When we think about accessibility in the digital world, the thing that comes to mind is a social-service-esque act that helps people. While it is true, and that it is indeed helpful for people when websites are accessible and easy to use, there is another side of the coin that is also true — accessible websites are good actually for business!

It is oftentimes difficult to prioritize accessibility amongst the other factors of constantly changing new technologies, design decisions and development practices. What most organizations don’t realize is that accessibility can unlock a lor of benefits for business. And, if it’s really done right, accessibility can certainly become a competitive advantage, especially in the eCommerce space.

Boosting accessibility can be a great example of how diversifying outlooks can enhance business and lead to unforeseen business benefits.

Here are 4 examples of how accessible design boosts business outcomes:

1. It reduces potential legal risk

A legal gavel

The digital channel is becoming more important to everybody: companies, customers, or prospective customers. In the last few years, web accessibility-related lawsuits have increased by a whopping 181%. This has forcing thousands of organisations to understand it’s importance and understand that accessibility compliance in important in today’s digital landscape.

In 2006, Bruce Sexton Jr., a student at the University of California-Berkeley and president of the California Association of Blind Students, sued Target because its web site was inaccessible to the blind. Filed in conjunction with the National Federation of the Blind, the suit was used as to spotlight many corporate sites that don’t play well — if at all — with screen reading technology. Eventually, thad to pay 6 million dollars in eventual settlement and continue to collaborate with the NFB to ensure accessibility. Target would not have met the same fate if they would have just had the presence of mind to understand the ADA compliance guidelines and followed them in time!

Seeing this, having an accessible website is no longer an option or a luxury, it can actually prevent a serious cost on the company.

2. It helps with customer acquisition

A handshake

Accessible sites are generally more usable to everyone — including people with disabilities, older people, people with low literacy, people who are not fluent in the language of the site, people with low bandwidth connections to the internet, people with older technologies, and new and infrequent web users. Catering to them increases the potential market segments and the possible users that can use the site.

Increased usability means users achieve their goals more effectively, efficiently, and satisfactorily. When users have a positive experience, they are more likely to use the site or application more thoroughly, return more often, and share their experience with others.

Worldwide, over 650 million people have a disability with some estimates as high as one billion or around 15% of the global population. In the United States alone, the estimated 64 million disabled persons have a purchasing power of 175 billion dollars. An accessible site can be an opening to a greater market share which includes those in the broader disabilities community — and at the end of the day, it also improves the experience for current users as well.

Consumers with disabilities who are unable to complete a transaction on a website or app will buy from somewhere else. 9 out of 10 blind Internet users are vocal anti-advocates for inaccessible companies, meaning their friends and family members are also making value-based buying decisions and choosing your competitors if your company’s website or application is inaccessible. Not only are you passing up the opportunity to do business with these folks, but you’re also giving your competitors that business by default.

3. It drives innovation

A bulb being held against a shaded sky

By embracing accessibility and inclusive design practices, many organizations are able to reach new innovations as a valuable byproduct. Often times, teams find that by designing with a more diverse group of people in mind they can get better overall creations and new ideas that apply to all users.

The largest tech companies in the world believe accessibility to be a basic human right — and in that they drive their products to be better, human-er.

Microsoft has found success in recent years thanks to an increased focus on accessibility and has integrated this into their marketing as well. Microsoft’s Seeing AI innovation is also focused on noticing images, and not just seeing them — to better convey to blind people.

Google has also sought to make an impact on accessibility and found new innovations and ideas because “…the accessibility problems of today are the mainstream breakthroughs of tomorrow.” Google’s Project Tango uses computer vision to help accurately place blind people in a three-dimensional space. Google also has innovations in the area of not just natural language processing, but non-language processing, a way to process sounds and intonations — a way to benefit the hearing-impaired. Apple, too, is not far behind in pioneering braille access and other accessibility measures into their products.

There are many everyday examples: capabilities like screen magnification, captions, and voice control are in regular use by the general public without people thinking of them as purely ‘accessibility features’.

4. It boosts brand value

A Pantone orange mug with orange pens in it

These efforts also help aligning your business with its core values. Today’s consumers consider the business’s core value when they are making their buying decisions. In fact, seven in ten US Millennials actively consider company values when making a purchase — compared with 52% of all US online adults.

Many company core values include words like inclusive, empathetic, understanding, etc. How can you have a company motto or core values that revolve around inclusivity and be excluding or potentially excluding a significant portion of the population of people who want to do business with your company?