Excellent web design used to be a straightforward process. Everything you would have to do is verify design worked on Netscape or Internet Explorer, and you were nearly done. Some designers went so far as to tell the user which browser to use. Visual design was not only a main priority for many designers, but it was also their exclusive preoccupation.

That strategy left a bad legacy, which could still be seen today, in which the site’s substance is frequently pushed aside in favor of eye candy and window decoration.

Everything has changed dramatically since then. Because users can use a variety of devices and browsers, creating a design that works consistently across all of them is a big problem. Unfortunately, the difficulty of maintaining entire test automation sometimes causes designers to overlook the need of ensuring total user compatibility. In other words, when accessibility might be a top priority, it is frequently overlooked or tacked on as an afterward.

For a variety of reasons, some of which are not readily apparent, such a technique can be expensive…

  1. You are defrauding your client if your design is not accessible.

According to CDC data, over one-fifth of all Adults aged have hearing problems, and nearly one-tenth of all Americans have vision problems. The actual figures alone for these impairment groups total around 58 million people.

How many company owners would you think will be delighted with the possibility of losing up to 20% of their potential market for their goods and services due to no fault of their own? If your website isn’t accessible, you’re giving them exactly that scenario.

  • Making your website inclusive is ethical and morally correct.

Some individuals will be unable to access the website if it lacks accessibility features, which is just not fair. While some disabled people may dismiss it as precisely what they anticipated, many may be enraged and believe that you are not honoring them by not providing accessibility – and they would be correct!

  • Disabled people aren’t a voiceless minority.

The Internet has provided a voice to those who don’t really have much chance to share their opinions in public before now, more than ever. Access to communications via the Internet has, in large part, balanced the field of play between handicapped and semi computer users. If a corporation or other institution is perceived as not supporting the disabled, the public relations implications can be devastating.

  • To be accessible may help you build trust and loyalty.

Guess which website will receive more repeat visitors if your competitor’s website is unavailable and yours is? Remember that 20% of the population has a handicap, and that persons with impairments are more likely than the general public to engage in online shopping. Shopping in the real world has accessibility difficulties as well, but the Internet allows everyone to get full equality and service regardless of social and physical restrictions.

  • It is simple to incorporate accessibility features.

One of the chief factors why so many programmers ignore accessibility is that they believe it would be too difficult to implement. In reality, with semantic markup and a little forethought, making a site better accessible isn’t always difficult. All that is required is a basic understanding of accessibility. It’ll be more difficult to create a site that’s not accessible in most cases.

Final Thoughts

Accessibility provides a financial benefit, as well as social and PR benefits, the avoidance of potential lawsuit concerns, and the ability to sleep a little easier. In a new site, that should be utilizing semantic markup anyhow, implementation is straightforward.

It doesn’t have to be a tough procedure to make a website more accessible. Always employ responsive design, which allows users to view the site from a variety of devices and helps vision-impaired users to resize the material to their needs. When CSS is switched off, make sure your content still flows logically. All video and audio content should include closed captions and/or transcripts. Consider detailing any major acts in written form while creating transcripts.

Take a look at Aria if you’re updating a legacy website to make it accessible or creating JavaScript-heavy webpages.

Don’t consider accessibility as an afterthought; instead, treat it as an integral part of the responsive design process, and plan to work this way from the outset.