Around 16% of the world’s population, that is 1.3 billion people, are living with some form of disability as per the World Health Organization (WHO). This means that, out of the total number of visitors to your website, a significant portion comes from the differently abled group of people.
Thus, ensuring web accessibility is no longer a luxury but a necessity if you want to succeed. An accessible website allows visitors with physical, auditory, visual, neurological, or cognitive disabilities to perceive, navigate, and engage with the site’s content.
This blog examines website accessibility and its importance.
Ready? Let’s dive in.
What is Web Accessibility?
Web accessibility for enterprises is defined as the process of designing and developing websites and web software applications that all people, even those with disabilities, can browse effortlessly.
The main purpose behind enterprise web accessibility solutions is to secure digital inclusion. This ensures that every visitor, regardless of their disabilities, can interact with the website without any challenges.
Importance Of Web Accessibility
Professional web accessibility is becoming extremely important. Having a website that is accessible and easily perceivable for people with disabilities is the cornerstone of success. Here are some of the reasons why accessibility matters.
1. Provides Access for Users with Disabilities
In today’s tech-driven era, web accessibility is no longer just a technical term but a fundamental aspect of developing an inclusive digital environment. Making your website accessible is not just about creating websites for people with disabilities; it is also about empowering them to interact with websites, participate in online activities, engage with other users and digital services, and access the necessary information.
2. Enhances Engagement and User Experience
Research shows that inaccessible websites frustrate users with disabilities, leading to dissatisfaction. As per a survey by WebAIM, around 98% of websites have accessibility issues, resulting in poor user experience and increased bounce rates.
Not implementing accessibility features in enterprise software and websites leads to a loss of potential customers and missed opportunities. Making your website accessible also improves brand loyalty, trust, and credibility.
3. Supports Industry Rules and Compliance
Beyond just enhancing user experience, there are other obligations that accessible websites cater to. Different countries have different digital laws and regulations that businesses must follow.
Various countries have laws that mandate web accessibility. For example, the United States prioritizes Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA-compliant software development, while Canada makes it compulsory for websites to be Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, or AODA-compliant.
Failing to comply with these accessibility regulations sabotages the company’s reputation and also imposes legal repercussions, such as lawsuits and hefty monetary punishments.
4. Social Responsibility Considerations
Along with legal considerations, accessible websites also highlight your commitment to social responsibility. Accessibility-first development means developing websites that are made for all, ensuring no one gets excluded.
5. SEO Benefits
Search engines prioritize accessibility. Accessible websites comply with search engine indexing standards, allowing search engines to crawl efficiently. Enterprise-level digital accessibility is most likely to outperform inaccessible websites by following the best practices for semantic HTML.
Additionally, other reasons why web accessibility matters for enterprise software development company in USA and websites include inclusive design, financial benefits, non discrimination, and ensuring freedom of expression and information.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines: Ensuring WCAG in Custom Development
The WCAG was introduced by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) to define how websites should be designed and coded to ensure accessibility. The WCAG-compliant enterprise websites are built around four principles, known as the POUR, meaning –
Perceivable
Website content should be made easily accessible and understandable to all in a way that they can effortlessly perceive the content. To make your website perceivable, it is essential to understand the key differences between web accessibility vs usability, provide alt texts, and make it easier for users to see or hear content effectively.
Operable
Operability ensures that the end users can seamlessly interact with the elements of the web page. For example, your website must be easily navigable and operable. Also, ensure that all the functionalities are easily accessible on a keyboard.
Understandable
An inclusive interface can make your website information easily understandable and perceivable. Ensure that texts are readable and comprehensible and operate in ways that can be predicted.
Robust
Robust websites deliver reliable interpretation by multiple agents. It also drives compatibility and scaling with the latest and future technologies.
Summing Up
Accessibility is beyond a nice-to-have feature. Instead, it shapes the development process and ensures that each element of every web page is easily accessible by users, regardless of their abilities and disabilities.
Nevertheless, web accessibility is not constant and is an ongoing process. Evaluating the website’s performance based on accessibility and following the best practices, such as understanding the audience, considering semantic HTML, ensuring keyboard navigation, providing alt texts, etc., is of utmost importance.
