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A website or application is the first place of contact for any business between the customer and its product or service. It is the place where the customer’s journey is defined. It is the place to decide whether a customer is happy or not.
In most cases, people with normal abilities are happy and quickly access the website or application. But people with disabilities find it difficult to access them. In such cases, the accessibility feature comes to play. Accessibility allows people with disabilities to access websites and apps easily. For example, a blind person can’t read a text on a regular website. But if a website is designed with accessibility features like screen reading, blind people can easily read website content using the screen reader feature.
Accessibility is one of the essential features of every website and app. It not only benefits people with disabilities, but it also has numerous other benefits that improve user experience and help grow your business. Some of the benefits of web accessibility in UX and business are provided in the rundown.
1. Increased Customer Base
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Generally, people with disabilities cannot access websites or apps as they are not designed for their needs. Hence, businesses miss this section of the population. But with the addition of accessibility features, people with disabilities can also access websites or apps, which increases the customer base for businesses.
2. Improved User Experience and Usability
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In the success of any website or web application, user experience is a deciding factor. If your website has a better user experience, you have a high chance of doing better business. Designing a website with the accessibility feature ensures that people with disability can easily use your website or application. And simultaneously, it also improves the experience for them and other people. For example, alternative text for images not only helps blind people but also helps people with slow internet connections.
Enhancing the user experience and making your website more accessible is not an easy task. It requires a lot of innovation and an experienced team. So, if you want to make your website accessible and simultaneously avoid extra strain, you can consult a UI UX Design Company.
3. Improved SEO
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Search Engine Optimization increases website traffic and ranking on search engines like Google search. Various factors in the SEO process define the ranking of a website on Google. A better user experience is one of them.
The website needs to be designed with accessibility features to improve the user experience so that people with disabilities can also access it. With accessibility features on your website, google automatically focuses on the user experience factor and provides websites with higher rankings. The better the rank, the better the business. So, a better UX design leads to better SEO.
4. Minimize Legal Risk
As the internet and technology are becoming more and more prevalent in our daily lives, it is hard to deny that accessibility is a constitutional right for people with disabilities.
As per the ADA (Americans with disabilities) Act, people with disabilities should enjoy equal access to public services and places of public accommodation. Though the ADA act doesn’t address web accessibility yet, the legislation is broad enough to extend into the digital sphere. The U.S. Department of Justice has declared that the lack of accessibility in the web application may violate the ADA act.
In 2018, 2,258 web accessibility lawsuits were filed in the U.S., and these are increasing rapidly every year. So, businesses that design their web products with accessibility features minimize or avoid discrimination claims.
5. Improved Brand Reputation
Big brands like Google and Microsoft are applauded for their diversity and inclusion efforts, including well-integrated accessibility features. By making your website accessible to all people irrespective of disabilities, you build a solid reputation for your business.
A clear commitment to accessibility also demonstrates that a company has a genuine sense of Corporate Social Responsibility. This enhances brand image and reputation and increases sales and customer loyalty.
6. Market Leadership Opportunity
Accessibility leads to innovation, and innovation helps separate your business from the rest in ways the customers notice. As you fully implement the accessibility designs or features, you find yourself or your company leading the market.
Web accessibility leverages your business growth as your web app becomes open to more people. More people visiting your web apps increases the chances of getting more customers and conversions. Improving accessibility features ensures that everyone can access your web app, which enhances your business growth and provides an opportunity for market leadership.
Conclusion
In today’s digital world, accessibility matters a lot to people and significantly impacts your business. Hence, it is essential to design every web app with accessibility. Designing for accessibility requires more innovation and effort. However, accessibility helps more people benefit from the web, increases your customers, improves brand reputation, and avoids legal issues concerning accessibility.
