The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.
Tim Berners-Lee
The World Wide Web is designed to be accessible to all people. It is not a static thing, it is ever adapting and evolving to meet the needs of the people who use it. Everyone should be able to interact with your website no matter what limitations they have.
Accessibility is inclusive. Web accessibility is defined as “the inclusive practice of ensuring there are no barriers that prevent interaction with, or access to, websites on the World Wide Web by people with physical disabilities, situational disabilities, and socio-economic restrictions on bandwidth and speed.” Just like we don’t exclude people from interacting with our business in the real world, we also should not exclude people from interacting with our business in cyberspace.
Accessibility is good for business. Being inclusive can drive more sales and increase your brand presence in the marketplace. According to the World Wide Web Consortium, “the global market of people with disabilities is over 1 billion people with a spending power of more than $6 trillion.” Some disabilities may prevent disabled users from going to a physical store. Unless your site is accessible, you are excluding a large consumer market.
Accessibility decreases your legal risk. While ADA Compliance is only the law for government authorities at present, it is a good idea to adopt some corporate social responsibility and decrease your legal risk. Currently, Domino’s pizza is in a three year legal fight with Guillermo Robles, who is blind and could not order a custom pizza on the site because it was not accessible by screen readers. The case of Robles vs Domino’s will ultimately be decided by The Supreme Court of the United States who will decide if Robles request was reasonable.
Accessibility is the right thing to do. Even though, it may not be the law yet, it is the right thing to do. It is nice to help people and provide equal opportunities. It is both a moral and ethical choice that we can make to demonstrate our commitment to including people with disabilities.
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