The business case for Digital Accessibility
If you’re involved in product development estimates and planning, you’ve probably come across the attitude “why is digital accessibility important?”. Well the legal, moral and commercial justifications go hand in hand, really.
Up to 15% of your users have some form of disability, and there is legislation on the provision of digital accessibility in the US and all EU countries. Accessible products help a company’s perceivable Environmental & Social Governance, in turn they help your sales.
Any business fundamentally needs to understand their customers’ evolving needs, because that’s how they continue to sell things.
So, 15% of the global population live with some form of disability — which could be an age-related visual impairment, or it could just be a broken wrist from a recent snowboarding holiday — meaning the user can’t use their mouse right now.
Most employers tend to do a good job, providing the tools for their staff, with any visual, mobility or even cognitive impairments, to be able to do their work just as effectively as anyone else. Typically they’ve chosen software that has good accessibility provisions already built in.
But can your customers say the same thing of YOUR products?
Tiny details make the difference between a good product and a great product and so a formal accessibility policy in your product design, could potentially extend your market reach into that 15%
Accessibility reduces legal risk. There’s a potential cost risk in NOT implementing a policy. In the US — with their punitive damages legal system — providers of apps and websites, where no provision has been made for blind users, have seen a sharp increase in lawsuits under The Americans with Disabilities Act
which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability.
In the UK and the EU we also have legislation, but its affect is more to do with potential exclusion from contracts, rather than being sued.
Accessibility helps your ESG. Any organisation will stand out — by proudly promoting its ethical values, so this can enhance your brand.
Both potential investors and potential customers will consider your ESG credentials, on some level.
‘Social’ encompasses quite a wide range of issues such as inclusion of your customers. The digital accessibility of your products addresses this directly by helping to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access.
If your business has to bid for contracts, then you’ll know that tender documents can be quite a useful tool to see, and understand, your customers’ evolving needs.
I work with public sector customers and nowadays, their tenders always have a clause on accessibility. These clauses never used to be deal breakers, but they now present a bigger barrier, with a much higher weighting in the tender score, essentially making them mandatory clauses now.
The UK accessibility regulations came into force in September 2018 and changed many customers’ needs overnight. At that time, my team were aware of the WCAG guidelines, but unlike security patches, we’d never really taken a pro-active approach to implementing them. Now though, the only way to ensure continued business with public sector organisations is to be adept in accessibility compliance.
So: why is accessibility important?
Skimping on accessibility is just short-sighted
It helps 15% of your users — so it fundamentally increases the market for your website or product
It reduces your legal risk — particularly relevant in the litigious US market
It helps your ESG — as it’s just morally a good thing to do. Accessible software ensures that everyone has equal access.
It helps your sales — accessibility is actually good for business, particularly in regulated markets like Local Government organisations.
