We all know how important it is for companies to have an engaging website and eye-catching emails, but without basic accessibility standards, you could be missing out on a huge proportion of your customer base.
Over two million of us in the UK suffer from visual impairment, ranging from partial and full blindness to colour blindness. A further 15% of the population has a learning disability, impacting comprehension levels of reading, writing, and spelling. And 1 in 6 adults are affected by hearing loss, leading them to be even more reliant on Internet services rather than ones telephone-based or face-to-face.
When looking at the numbers, it quickly becomes obvious that this is too large of an audience to simply just ignore. And with accessibility standards becoming easier to implement by the day, it’s a no-brainer to bring your company’s website and communications up to modern standards.
Below, we’ll go over a few easy-to-implement tips on how to make your business content more accessible and help you grow your customer base with minimal effort.
Inclusive User Experience Design
Creating flashy, eye-catching pages and extensive menus can be tempting, but is it really serving its purpose if it alienates large numbers of your potential customers?
Inclusive design allows everyone, regardless of age, disability or background to engage with and understand your website and communications. It’s free to do and just requires some thought and research on how best to deliver your message and brand. The WCAG website is a great place to start this research, as it hosts a huge amount of guidelines detailing the best accessibility practices.
Think of it this way, “when inclusive design is the process, accessibility is the outcome.”
According to equality charity, SCOPE, one of the best ways to keep your design inclusive is by keeping everything as simple as possible. The busier the screen is and the more steps a user has to take to get to their end goal, the harder it will be for them to understand and use. This means using widely understood interfaces, cutting out non-essential features, and keeping a simple, clean aesthetic.
The charity also stresses the need for feedback. As a designer, it’s impossible to have thought of every possible user’s needs, but being open to feedback provides the opportunity to strengthen your knowledge and positively implement these changes. Again, broadening your potential customer base whilst gaining a positive reputation.
Brand Accessibility
Brand accessibility is all about the image you put across to your audience and the way you communicate with them. If your customers come away having had a stress-free, positive experience, they’re much more likely to think of your business when they require your services.
Clear communication and empathetic design are big points here, ensuring that your message gets across in an easy-to-digest and pain-free way. The WebAIM guides are a great place to start your research, providing a comprehensive list of accessible fonts and typesetting to use in your communications.
The Business Disability Forum says that “being accessible means offering all information in a consistent and open format, ensuring access to everyone and making sure your brand is responsive and reachable to all of society.”
This means using WCAG’s accessible fonts and colours, easily understandable language, and clearly sign-posted methods of contact ranging from email and web forms to freely accessible phone numbers. By doing this, you’ll be opening the doors and welcoming customers to converse with you as a considerate and compassionate brand.
Assisting the Assistive Technology
New technology has been one of the biggest forces behind accessibility. From futuristic tech-like screenreaders to more simplistic features like toggleable colour palettes, these innovations are an easy and effective way for the less abled to access your website and content.
This assistive technology can be hindered by poorly thought-out design, but with a little planning and research, you can ensure engaging with your business is a breeze no matter what the users need.
The difference between a hard-to-use, and an easily accessible website can be as simple as using regular headings to section off large blocks of text and allow those using assistive technology to quickly find what they need. At the same time, avoid the use of pop-ups and extensive animations that can disrupt assistive technology and become confusing for those with difficulties reading and writing.
You should also be aware of customers using text-to-speech software to digest your web pages and content. To allow people using this tech to get the most from your website: add image descriptions to your photos, capitalise each word in a hashtag (#JustLikeThis) so they are read out as a sentence, don’t overuse emojis, and make sure to include subtitles with video whenever possible.
You’ll want to signpost your web pages and content as clearly as you can to allow those with visual and reading disabilities to find their way around effectively. This means being consistent with link and button functions, including descriptive error and success messages when performing actions, visual orientation cues like using background colours to differentiate content and providing an up-to-date sitemap.
Conclusion
In the digital age, accessibility is not just a legal requirement but a moral obligation and a business opportunity. By embracing inclusive design, clear communication, and assistive technology, businesses can ensure that their digital platforms are accessible to all, regardless of age, disability, or background. This not only broadens the potential customer base but also enhances the brand’s reputation as a considerate and compassionate one.
As we move forward it will be ever more important for businesses to adapt and innovate in their accessibility practices, ensuring that as many people can engage with their services and products with ease. Remember, “when inclusive design is the process, accessibility is the outcome.”
