What Is True Website Accessibility?

By Author: Purple Lens
Total Articles: 3
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Accessibility is so much more than a mere buzzword: it’s a vital aspect of modern web design, and to ignore or neglect it, could mean that you exclude a significant sector of your audience. While achieving true web accessibility for your website is easier than ever before when you seek help from an experienced accessibility service provider, are you clear on exactly why it’s so important, and how it can benefit your business?

Website compliance is often talked about, and is closely linked with true accessibility, as such, it’s important to understand it fully as a business owner:

What is website compliance?
With a sizeable number of consumers with disabilities using websites to connect and shop with businesses, it’s important to be aware of the legislation that protects their human rights, and ensures that any barriers to their access, are eliminated.

For all businesses that have websites, mobile apps or other digital technology that they use to connect with the general public, web compliance with accessibility standards ...
... is a significant consideration, and true accessibility means that the diverse needs of everyone are met.

What is web accessibility?
A person with a disability can struggle to navigate a digital environment in some of the ways demonstrated below:

- A mouse or trackball may be difficult to use for someone without the full use of their hands
- Text on a computer screen may be hard to see for someone with a vision disability

Only when these barriers have been eliminated, can a website be considered truly accessible, and as the population expands and includes even more people with disabilities (because we’re living longer, and the certain chronic health conditions that can cause disabilities are also increasing), it’s something that is more important than ever before.

Aside from this though, shouldn’t everyone in society be able to use your website in the same, accessible way? Discrimination in any form is never good for business, and to be seen as inclusive and caring company, you need to be web compliant for more reasons than simply adhering to human rights laws.

How can web accessibility grow your business?
While being an inclusive company is of course a wonderful target to strive for, you’re also running a business, and if you’re not making money, you simply won’t survive. Fortunately, there are many ways that true web accessibility can benefit your business from a financial standpoint, and the primary benefit is that of giving you access to a much larger and more diverse consumer group. Introducing your products and/or services in an inclusive way, can ensure that everyone has a positive experience when they visit your site, and with a bit of luck (or with good planning and accessibility!), they’ll recommend your brand to their friends, family, neighbors and colleagues.

To ensure that your website is meeting all web standards of accessibility and compliance, and to give a more diverse range of customers, full and easy access to your products, remember that sometimes it pays to seek professional help; that way you can achieve true accessibility far quicker, and be reaping the many rewards, far sooner.

At Purple Lens, we have been working on an innovative tech solution to make websites both accessible by law, and by the 7-15% of the population with disabilities, who may struggle to access websites in the same way as others. To make your website accessible to a truly global audience, try our wordpress accessibility plugin or wordpress ada compliance plugin.