When building a website for your business, there are several different factors to consider. Chances are you have thought about the design, content, responsivity, and useability – but have you given accessibility a thought? Today it’s more important than ever to build an inclusive website that can be easily used by people with diverse abilities. accessiBe explains why ADA compliance and accessibility is so important for modern business websites.
Customer Satisfaction
Bear in mind that not all of your customers will have the same abilities that you do. People with disabilities use the internet every day, and will often find obstacles and roadblocks that prevent them from consuming content or shopping as the website is not built with accessibility in mind. Ensuring an easy experience for all customers of all abilities can boost your company’s customer satisfaction and reputation, leading to more sales and growth.
Regulations
There are increasing regulations for businesses when it comes to accessible websites. Your website might be penalized if it is not accessible for users who are using a screen reader, for example. And as search engines such as Google become increasingly more focused on creating an online experience that serves the user, it’s likely that website accessibility is going to play a larger part in SEO and your website’s visibility in the future.
Engagement
Today’s customers want to shop with brands that they feel understand them and they can relate to. But sadly, nothing tells your disabled customers that you don’t understand them – and might not even care – than a website that they cannot easily access. On the other hand, using available online tools to test the accessibility of your website and taking steps to ensure that it can be easily enjoyed by everybody sends a direct message to your customers of all abilities that you are keeping them in mind with your website design and content.
Design, brand colors, content and many other factors go into designing a business website, but sadly accessibility is often overlooked. It can be easy to forget about how somebody with different abilities to yourself might see your site. ADA compliance will help you improve your reputation and build a strong relationship with all of your customers.
