One billion people—a seventh of the planet’s population—live with a disability.
Why is it that digital accessibility is something many companies still view as optional? Or at least not a priority? It’s time for this to change.
The truth is that we utilize accessibility features every day and don’t even realize it. Word prediction on your phone was originally created for people with dyslexia. Pinch and zoom on your tablet and dark mode on cell phones are accessibility features we benefit from on a daily basis.
When we start to think about digital accessibility differently, the whole concept becomes a little easier to understand. And that’s why, when I talk about the need for more accessible digital experiences, I focus on three critical motivators:
People who live with disabilities deserve to inhabit the same reality as those who don’t. We’ve developed amazing technologies that enable people to live, work, create, and communicate despite restricted mobility, hearing, sight, speech, and other functions non-disabled people might take for granted. Putting those technologies where they can make life easier for people is, quite simply, an ethical no-brainer.
Changes in regulations and mandates are what drive many companies toward addressing digital accessibility—and that’s fine if it gets more of us to embrace accessible design. Being on the wrong side of WCAG or public sector regulations will prevent you from doing business in an increasing number of places. So if idealism doesn’t motivate you, but legal compliance does, digital accessibility is, again, a no-brainer.
The truth is, you can technically be WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) conformant, but still deliver a frustrating, disjointed user experience in which no one feels they’re speaking the same language. Having tools that don’t just tick the boxes, that truly provide a unifying, seamless experience, doesn’t just get you in the door on a compliance basis. It gives you happier, more productive users and employees.
Related
Just as it’s a business advantage for your employees to do business in multiple languages, the ability to “speak blindness” or “speak cerebral palsy” gives us a vastly more sophisticated, more multivalent way of being. We reach more people, in more ways. It’s as simple as that. More expansive worldview, more nimble solutions—more business with more people.