What is Website Accessibility?
Website accessibility is the process of making your website usable to all users, including those with disabilities and impairments. Website accessibility gives the same website experience to all of its visitors. Having website accessibility is important for any digital business, as this will allow equal access to your content for all viewers. In 2023, digital products that comply with accessibility are expected to outperform their market competitors by 50%. This market generates $13 trillion dollars in exposable income every year, making website accessibility a necessity going forward.
Why is Having Accessibility for your Website Important?
About one billion people worldwide currently live with some form of disability. That’s nearly 15% of the world’s population. In the United States alone, 75% of those with disabilities use the internet every day. Companies who already implement accessible websites are complying with ADA regulations and generating more customers than those who don’t. Users with hearing, vision, or cognitive disabilities need to have accessible websites to shop online. Nearly 86.4% of homepages still have low contrast text, which is not accessible to all users.
Are there implications to not being accessible?
Other than missing out on a bigger market, making your website accessible to all users is now the law. According to American Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III, every business website has to be accessible to people with disabilities, or it will be at risk of being sued and facing unnecessary legal expenses. In 2020, there was a 12% increase in lawsuits regarding non-compliant ADA websites compared to 2019. This trend is only going to grow, as more users demand websites to comply with current laws.
How Do I Make My Website ADA Compliant?
The requirements for a ‘compliant’ website are somewhat subjective, and to fully build or remediate a site to the most recent WCAG 2.1 AA standards is challenging, and very time consuming. Some options leave your site running slow, making it unappealing for users. Until recently there was no reasonable option for anyone other than the largest enterprise companies to make websites accessible. You had to manually updated your website. However, now there are companies releasing cost-effective technology backed by artificial intelligence to bring a site up to compliance. One of those companies is UserWay.
What is UserWay?
UserWay’s AI-Powered Accessibility Widget, the world’s most comprehensive automation solution for ADA compliance, ensures full WCAG 2.1 coverage while also providing a richer selection of accessibility functions to your site’s users. UserWay puts your users first, setting your website apart by portraying your commitment to all online users. UserWay protects your business from receiving lawsuits regarding the most recent ADA standards, allowing you to sleep better at night.
