More and more companies are seeing the advantages of having an accessible website. For many, it is simply the right thing to do. But there are solid financial reasons that are impossible to overlook. With 1.5 million people with disabilities in Ontario and 650 million in the world with disabilities. This is an enormous opportunity to increase your market reach!
According to Disabled World, currently, about 10% of the world population live with a disability.
Reach wider markets
There are two sides of accessibility: technical and usable accessibility. The technical part ensures that the screen readers (used by the visually impaired) can read a website and that the physically disabled can use the tab button to navigate it. However, large group of people with disabilities are people with cognitive problems – problems with understanding. These are people with learning disabilities, ADD, short-term memory, dyslexia etc., who find it extremely difficult to navigate complex sites or sites that are not clearly written. Usable accessibility ensures that a website is logically organized, menus and titles carry information and are intuitive, and the website copy is clear and understandable for everyone.
250,000 immigrants come to Canada each year. Again, this is a number that should not be overlooked. Industry jargon and idioms can be a real problem for newcomers. Idioms like “When will you drop them a line?” will be translated word for word. Sarcasm and irony may sound offending.
And let’s not forget seniors. Seniors experience problems that are similar to those of people with disabilities. Vision problems, loss of hearing, short-term memory loss, shaky hands, arthritis… But seniors have huge buying power and are more and more computer savvy. Wouldn’t it make sense to make your website easy to use for them?
Increase website traffic
We cannot overlook the SEO advantages of an accessible website. The main principles for making a website accessible overlap the basic principles of search engine optimization (SEO). As a result, accessible websites rank higher in search results and bring more website traffic. Then it’s a matter of good usability, persuasive content and product or services in demand to turn the traffic into customers.
Clearly, website accessibility has strong financial benefits for any organization. Businesses get more sales, schools get more students, and non-profit organizations get more funding.
Read also:
SEO benefits of an accessible website
Expand your market reach with an accessible website
Building a website for seniors