The Benefits of Website Accessibility for CX and Risk Mitigation
When organizations think about diversity and inclusion from a marketing perspective, that often boils down to ensuring that members of the four primary ethnic and racial groups – African American, Asian American, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White – are represented in collateral pieces, on websites, and so on. Inclusive marketing is more nuanced than that, and diversity goes beyond race.
Diversity means difference, and there are many ways in which people are different. Race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, language, and social class are just some of the buckets of diversity. One of the most neglected diversity categories is physical and cognitive health or ability.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
- 1 in 4 adults in the United States have some form of disability
- 2 in 5 adults aged 65 years and older have a disability
- 1 in 4 women has a disability
- 5.9% of adults with functional disabilities experience deafness or serious difficulty hearing
- 4.6% of adults experience blindness or serious difficulty seeing
Sixty-one million Americans live with some form of disability, and more than half feel like marketers ignore them. The data supports that claim. Less than 1% of advertising features people with disabilities, and only 3% of websites are accessible.
What is Website Accessibility
In short, website accessibility means giving someone with a disability, like limited or no sight or hearing, the ability to experience all elements of your organization’s website. For example, someone without sight cannot see images or form fields on your website, so they need alternative text to inform them of the content of each image. Someone without hearing cannot listen to a narrated video, so they need captions. When your organization’s website is not accessible, it creates a poor experience for visitors and potentially exposes your company to litigation.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
As previously stated, maintaining an accessible website ensures your organization provides an equitable experience for all users and minimizes the risk associated with not complying with the rules, behaviors, code standards, and design guidelines created by the W3C (WCAG 2.1.).
The WCAG 2.1 is a massive 1,000-page guidebook that encapsulates a range of disabilities, from hindering internet use to making internet use impossible without adjustments.
There are many disabilities covered, and the primary categories that require attention are:
- Blind people using screen-readers
- The motor-impaired using only the keyboard to navigate
- Epilepsy
- Color blindness
- Cognitive and learning disabilities
- Visual impairments
- And more
WCAG 2.1 has been adopted as the global standard for web accessibility acting as the benchmark in legislation such as the American Disabilities Act (ADA) Title 3, Section 508, AODA, EN 301549, and many others.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) states that every business website has to be accessible to people with disabilities. The law prohibits discrimination based on disability by places of “public accommodation,” meaning websites or brick-and-mortar facilities.
Website Accessibility Solution
To address this need for clients, Crayons & Markers searched for an effective and simple solution and landed on accessiBe, an AI automated system that can achieve full ADA compliance within 48 hours and provide 24/7 automatic maintenance for under $500 annually for most standard websites.
Remember, everyone should be able to enjoy your website, regardless of ability. Comply with legislation and provide a high-quality user experience by making your website accessible today.
