In this video, I will give you 5 reasons why — website accessibility matters, and you should care, stay tuned!
Hi! I’m Fred Mercedes and welcome to accessible bits!
Today’s topic is one I think is essential. Web accessibility has been around for a while but, unfortunately,
is not something you hear about enough.
So let’s explore together the 5 reasons why web accessibility matters and you should care!
Reason Number One: Let’s start by Understanding what Web Accessibility is
In a nutshell, website accessibility is the idea that anybody should be able to use a website regardless of their physical or mental
ability.
The central idea around web accessibility is to give users reasonable accommodations based on their specific needs when they visit
your website. For example, when people visit a library building, it is ready and accessible for everyone to use.
If you use a wheelchair, is not like the library will turn you away because you can’t walk up the stairs.
Instead, libraries have ramps and elevators to allow visitors of all abilities to get equal access to the content in the library. In the
same way, web accessibility will allow people with visual, mobility, and cognitive limitations to have equal participation over the internet.
According to the W3C, less than 10% of the web is accessible. So — if you’re spending thousands
of dollars on a fancy new website, wouldn’t you want all your users to be able to use it? Otherwise… What’s the point?
But, how come only 10% of the internet is
accessible if it is so important? You might be wondering.
For starters, Website accessibility can be difficult for beginners because the documentation can be hard to understand and
is very jargony.
Because of this, CEOs, designers, and developers often avoid the topic and save it for a later day. I believe in embracing digital inclusivity
is an excellent opportunity to improve your products and services and increase sales, so everybody should be doing it.
And I get it! It’s far too easy to ignore web Accessibility when you are designing a website. Web accessibility is a topic that
isn’t particularly sexy, so many people just look the other way. and pretend it isn’t there.
The reality is though that the web should work for everyone by default. But, more often than not because of a lack of
awareness about the issue. People will ignore this and end up using poor development practices.
Also, meeting deadlines and doing the bare minimum is a common reason to skip Accessibility.
In addition to that, the current laws are not strictly enforced yet, at least in the United States.
But web accessibility isn’t just about helping people with disabilities. Which takes us to reason number 2.
Web accessibility also helps people with Temporary Disabilities According to the CDC, almost everyone will
have a temporary– or permanent disability at some point – in the USA alone, 26% of all adults have some form of disability.
These temporary disabilities make up a huge portion of the reported limitations – from accidents to things like ALS, Bells’ Palsy, fractures,
sprains, and so much more.
Web Accessibility is essential. Your users are constantly changing, growing, and expanding their needs. Reason number 3.
Now, do you like getting in legal trouble? The answer is probably not.
Every year, lawsuits have been increasing in larger numbers. All of this is coming from people who needed reasonable
accommodations to navigate a website.
Retailers and restaurants are at the top of the lists of accessibility lawsuits – with over 66% of internet retailers’ top 500 being
part of a case since 2017.
Now let’s talk about reason number 4. Web accessibility also helps people with
Cognitive Disabilities.
Did you know that nearly 30 million adults struggle to read? and that 15% of people have some form of dyslexia?
It’s easy to forget cognitive disabilities, but we shouldn’t—nearly 4.8% of people in
the US is affected by some form of mental disability.
The world’s population is aging, which means cognitive disabilities are increasing every year – people over 60
are the fastest-growing age group globally.
Problems like dyslexia, aging, ADHD, and other factors, are all good arguments for why you need to consider cognitive disabilities
in your designs.
Creating accessible content is something very much in your control. You don’t need to do much.
A good rule of thumb is that if a 7th grader understands it, you’re good to go. Also,
Writing your best, more legible copy to engage your audience is a good practice. By doing that! — You’ll be helping people who struggle to focus, as well as people who generally work with reading chunks of text.
And Finally, Reason number 5.
Let’s talk about the business case for Website Accessibility.
Do you know what happens when your website is not accessible? People will leave!
Rather than fighting with an unfriendly User interface, most users will click away, and your bounce rates will suffer.
When you’re hoping to rank your website on Google you want people to stay on your site for a
while.
So if you take your Accessibility seriously, you will benefit greatly.
Why? Well, analytics are blind, in many cases.
This is because people with disabilities are protected class and counting them as separate individuals would create discrimination against
them. So everybody counts as the same in terms of google tracking.
Yes! Making these changes takes a little bit of work up front – but it also means less work down
the line.
Is that simple!
Accessibility will ensure everyone can enjoy your website without barriers, so just do it!
You, as a developer or designer, can benefit a lot as well from doing accessible work.
Having this skill set will elevate your quality as a professional. It will allow you to create designs and applications that everybody can
use. Suppose you have forgotten everything that I just told you. If anything, I would
like you to remember just one thing.
Web accessibility is the right thing to do! so just do it!
Remember, the journey of a thousand miles begins I would like to remind you please subscribe to my channel Your support would mean the world to me, so I can keep making more videos like this. Also, smash that like button like my life depends on it!
I See you in the next video!
