Who benefits from the digital accessibility of your website or app?

Developers, businesses and users alike are increasingly aware of the benefits of digital accessibility. This is an area that should be a concern for everyone, not just people with disabilities and older adults. Thus, promoting universal accessibility on websites and applications can bring any initiative, whether informative or commercial, to all audiences, regardless of age or disability.

Web accessibility arises from our need to work together in an interconnected world where people have different language abilities and abilities, so it’s essential to consider how these differences can affect your experience when using a site.

Benefits of digital accessibility for users and businesses

Based on the definition of “accessibility”, if we apply this concept to the web environment, it implies favoring access to the internet by anyone. Everyone should be able to share ideas, communicate and access products and services digitally.

Web accessibility, on the other hand, is sometimes perceived as an obstacle that business leaders must overcome before focusing on other priorities. However, implementing this concept is very beneficial for companies.

In fact, proactively anticipating problems caused by inaccessible systems, tools, and technology can generate returns down the road. And there is no better way to promote this value to the public than to have an accessibility certificate; that is, a control standard validated by a third party.

Inclusion inspires innovation

The philosophy behind accessible design focuses on providing different ways for users to interact with websites and apps. Accessible design is flexible in nature, allowing content to be faithfully reproduced across a broad spectrum of devices, platforms, assistive technologies, and operating systems.

Cost savings

Incorporating accessibility at the beginning of a website’s development or redesign process is much easier and less expensive than making improvements to an existing site later, such as a separate project. Technology and design upgrades that include accessibility along with other best practices have proven to have little economic impact and require reduced maintenance resources.

Better brand reputation

Apple, Microsoft or Google are brands applauded for their diversity and inclusion efforts, including their digital accessibility commitments.

A clear commitment in this regard can demonstrate that a company has a genuine sense of Corporate Social Responsibility. Potential outcomes of these programs include improved brand image and reputation, increased sales, and strengthened customer loyalty.

More market reach

Often, companies consider only some permanent disabilities when they think of this “minority” of their users, but the reality is that disability covers a much broader spectrum. There are many types of impairments that require specific accessibility solutions. From this perspective, a user who can access the content of a site because they have thought about its limitations becomes a reference for him and for others with the same condition through recommendations.

On the other hand, if we take a look at the figures that account for the number of people with disabilities in our country, there are more than 4.3 million men and women who have some type of disability. These are INE data for 2020.

Good practices

Now that we’ve defined what web accessibility is, let’s look at some best practices for making websites and apps more accessible:

• Use WAI-ARIA. It is the most advanced solution to make a site accessible to all users with needs for assistive products and technical aids, such as screen readers.
• The code of the products must comply with the guidelines set by WCAG.

• Provide alternatives for multimedia objects. If you use an audio file as part of your site design, make sure that the file is accompanied by an alternate text version so that users can know what they’re not hearing.
• Use clear language. If technical or specific language is used in the information of a product or service, it is advisable to maintain alternative ways of explaining the same thing in simpler terms. In addition, error messages must also comply with this rule and be brief. This allows users to easily understand what happens on the web page if an error occurs. Simple instructions on how to resolve the problem should be provided.
• Provide captions and subtitles. If multimedia content is included in the design, text transcripts or captions should be implemented so that hearing-impaired users can understand what they are seeing.
• Use keyboard-only controls. If your design includes interactive features, you should allow users to access them using only the keyboard without having to enable the mouse.

To measure the effectiveness of the implementation of these functions and establish new lines of action, it is advisable to perform a web accessibility audit in order to monitor their performance.

Royal Decree 1112/2018

According to Royal Decree 1112/2018, of 7 September, public administration websites and applications must:

• Provide accessibility for users with disabilities and the elderly. The goal is for content to be perceptible, usable and understandable.
• Apply accessibility criteria in the design, management, maintenance and updating.
• Implement new features that ensure that the site or application maintains a minimum level of accessibility at all times.

In conclusion, there are many benefits of digital accessibility, not only for society in general, but for all those companies that apply their efforts to make their sites or apps more accessible. At Pasiona Consulting we are aware of this reality and offer specialized accessibility consulting . To learn more about our interventions in this area, it is best to delve into the success story of TIC Salut Social, one of our most outstanding clients.