Having an accessible website is not only a responsibility against discrimination, but it’s also a legal requirement in several countries, and you open yourself up to lawsuits by not adhering to the guidelines. Additionally, from a business marketing perspective, the design and functionality features mean that accessible websites perform better and are higher ranking in search engine lists. Your website is therefore more likely to gain attention from a larger potential audience when it’s accessible to everyone.
Here are the facts
According to WHO, over a billion people in the world – 15% of the global population – are living with some form of disability, and 40% of people living with disabilities don’t receive the assistance they require for basic everyday activities. Factors such as an increase in chronic diseases and an aging population are resulting in increasing rates of disabilities across the world. The majority of websites and mobile apps don’t meet the basic accessibility standards, due to having illegible text, unfavorable color contrasts, or poor navigation. This hurts not only the users but the website owners; if a website isn’t accessible, 71% of people with disabilities will leave straight away. In December 2008, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) was published, detailing a list of criteria for all public sector websites to meet. The guidelines have been revised several times and WCAG 2.2 is now scheduled to be published in 2021. As shown in this map, many major countries around the world have implemented WCAG standards: Credit: 3PlayMedia It’s important to be aware of how local laws could affect your business if you don’t comply with WCAG standards. The necessary adjustments to become WCAG compliant include both front-end UI and design, which can be implemented by installing an Accessibility Interface on your website, as well as back-end code to ensure your website is set up in the most compatible way possible.
Making the change
When carrying out changes on an existing website, you have to consider the time and cost of making it more accessible, however for new web owners, starting off on the right foot will save you from having to change things later down the line, and will reduce the risk of running into any lawsuits. To meet the guidelines, your website or mobile app must be ‘perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.’ Here are a few tips on how to make your website accessible: Perceivable Operable Understandable Robust For more details and specifics, the full guidelines as developed by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) are online and available for everyone to read.
