Creating a successful and profitable business is the goal of most entrepreneurs. Due to the huge number of businesses and easy access created by the internet, your website is critical to getting your business seen.
With that comes branding, an important factor in business, from a website’s design to marketing efforts. A website’s digital impact helps to convey brand messaging to the public so companies can turn browsers into buyers.
You want to cast as wide a net as possible to attract new customers and clients. To do that, you want to create a positive experience for all users interacting with your company digitally. As a business owner, you want to ensure you’re serving all demographics.
People with disabilities make up a large portion of the population. According to the CDC, roughly 12 million people in the United States live with vision impairment (1 million are blind, 3 million have vision impairment after correction, and 8 million have vision impairment due to uncorrected refractive error).
Consider that those living with disabilities have different needs as their day-to-day looks a little different than those without. For example, WebAIM’s screen reader survey says 87.6% of respondents in the U.S. use screen readers due to a disability.
Just like a brick-and-mortar business should have wheelchair accessibility and adequate parking accommodations, a website should provide an accessible experience. Did you know? 90% of websites are inaccessible to people with disabilities who rely on assistive technology.
With a user-friendly experience (for all users), you invite people with disabilities to use your products or services, which leads to more sales and revenue while including a large group of our communities.
What is true accessibility? It ensures that as many people can access content as possible. This delivers your products, services, message, and mission to as many people as possible. Not only is digital accessibility the right thing to do to ensure equal access to all, but it also benefits your business.
Here are examples of this concept in action:
Adding alt text to your website makes it accessible for human and robot users. Alt text is picked up by web crawlers, internet bots that scan the web for search engine purposes to index websites and information. This expands your digital outreach and gets your website in front of more people.
Creating an accessible customer service experience keeps new and repeat customers and clients happy. 93% of customers will likely repeat purchases with companies offering excellent customer service. Companies can do this by providing multiple contact options (ie; live chat, phone, email, etc.) to accommodate user preferences or needs.
The idea is simple: the more users can access and comfortably interact with your brand, the more chance for customers and clients. Not only will it serve your audience, but it will also serve you well in the long run.