Summary: Do you want to be an inclusive business and increase sales? Then you’re in the right place! In this post, you will realize why website accessibility is good for your business and customers.
For over 25 years, WSI has been providing digital marketing services and strategies – including website accessibility checklists – to businesses of all sizes and across various industries.
Our webinar host and WSI Digital Marketing Consultant, is Eric Cook, MBA, a “recovering banker”, award-winning web designer, and three-time contributing author to Digital Minds: A Strategic Approach To Connecting And Engaging With Your Customers Online.
The official definition, from W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative, is: “Web accessibility means that websites, tools, and technologies are designed and developed so that people with disabilities can use them.”
Bearing in mind that each of these has its own nuances, these are some categories of disabilities:
Not only do individuals with some form of disability benefit, but there are also additional non-disability advantages. Input modes for devices with small screens, less mobility due to ageing, short-term disabilities such as a broken bone or misplaced specs, environmental limitations such as bright light, poor internet connection and/or bandwidth.
The statistics answer this question best:
Keeping these figures in mind will motivate you to make the changes necessary to make your website and other digital interactions accessible. Refer to these stats in meetings and as part of a (digital) paper trail.
Another reason why website accessibility is important is to avoid being on the receiving end of an accessibility lawsuit. With so much more reliance on online-only trading during COVID-19, digital accessibility lawsuits have increased by 50% over the last two years. To avoid being one of the ten new lawsuits filed every day, your website includes appropriate accessibility specifications, guidelines, practices.
Top tip: Working in such a dynamic environment makes it essential that your digital stays abreast of trends and technologies.
These are the elements you will need to address:
Top tip: Don’t forget your third-party partners, e.g. scheduling or reservations service, an app platform, or shopping cart. You cannot contract away your accessibility responsibility or liability!
Start by leveraging available technology such as Audioeye.
Then, for a quick guide to get you started, get your hands on WSI’s 90-Day Accessibility Checklist. Here are some best practices from it:
Reach out to your WSI Consultant for the best digital marketing results and expert assistance with increasing your website accessibility.
And don’t forget, you can catch up on all the details we shared above in our latest Client Webinar: 5 Reasons Why Website Accessibility is Good for Your Business AND Customers.
Rick spent 20 years in the insurance industry in finance, primarily developing reporting platforms for B & C stakeholders. His ability to speak to consumers of data (managers and analysts) and translate their needs to programmers led him to start his own digital marketing agency in 2004 to develop data driven solutions for business owners.
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