Is Your Website Really Accessible and What Does Accessibility Mean?

[Approximate Reading Time : 4 mins]

A business’s website is one of its most valuable tools for enhancing its public image and boosting its bottom line. Still, unless it is fully accessible to a broad range of people, it can not achieve its full potential and may even hinder it. 

Redefining Accessibility

Although it is vital to address website accessibility for people with disabilities, web accessibility can go further by addressing inclusivity in other ways. These are some examples of how a website can be inaccessible to someone who does not have a disability:

• A website does not translate to phone, smartwatch, or other mobile device screens
• A website is unsupported because it requires too much bandwidth
• A website requires skills that are challenging for the elderly
• A website requires functions that are inconvenient in specific environments or situations

Rethinking how internet accessibility can promote inclusivity is vital for accommodating people who need this resource to connect with family, friends, colleagues, and clients or perform critical work functions.

Ways To Ensure a Website’s Accessibility

The most efficient way to achieve website accessibility is to build it in from the start. This approach saves valuable time and money by eliminating the backtracking necessary to redesign an inaccessible website. Live testing is the only way to understand how users experience your website, even if your site passes automated tests that can not faithfully replicate real-world situations users may encounter.

Accessibility, Usability, and Inclusivity

Ideally, a website can satisfy the requirements for a broad range of users, regardless of their disability status, by adhering to standards for accessibility, usability, and inclusivity defined by The Web Accessibility Initiative. Although these categories can guide designers to address disabled individuals’ website accessibility requirements, they also affect a broad range of people’s experiences. For example, disabled and non-disabled users can benefit from color contrast, text enlargement functions, navigation assistance, and descriptive and concise title tags, depending on their circumstances. 

How Neglecting Your Website’s Design Could Affect Your Bottom Line

According to a 2020 PEW study, 87% of adults consider the internet necessary during the pandemic; 53% believe it is essential. Many of these users shop or conduct research online and may never know your business’s value if your website poses too many challenges. They may take their business elsewhere if they struggle to navigate your site and possibly form an indelibly negative opinion about your business.

To learn more about how Amnet can help you build universally inclusive website, contact us at hello@amnet-systems.com.

Sources
1. https://www.w3.org/standards/webdesign/accessibility
2. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2020/04/30/53-of-americans-say-the-internet-has-been-essential-during-the-covid-19-outbreak/
3. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/internet-broadband/
4. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/352766
5. https://webaim.org/intro/
6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29134876/