[updated June 20, 2023]<\/p>\n
Over the past four years, web accessibility has become one of the fastest-growing issues in the legal and technological fields. This should come as no surprise to anyone observing trends in the datasphere.<\/p>\n
Within time, web accessibility brought with it a whole host of benefits and motivations which go beyond just avoiding being sued, digital accessibility has become from a moral duty and a social commitment to one of the principles of modern marketing and businesses.<\/p>\n
\\What is the impact of embracing web accessibility? What\u2019s in jeopardy when your business site is not accessible? How can your website benefit from digital accessibility? In this article, you\u2019ll find the 5 reasons why web accessibility is a risk too big to take and an opportunity far too big to miss for any business today. Here they are.<\/p>\n
1. Compliance with current regulations<\/h2>\n
Let\u2019s kickoff with one of the main reasons why web accessibility is important to any business today\u2014the legal risks of not being accessible.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Americans with Disabilities Act<\/a>\u00a0(ADA) has been on the books for nearly thirty years. Even though it doesn\u2019t mention websites anywhere, Title III of the ADA has been interpreted by U.S. courts and affirmed by the Department of Justice in late 2018 to apply to websites.<\/p>\n Almost one year before that, in January 2017, the U.S. Access Board published a final rule updating the standards covered by Section 508 of the federal law known as the\u00a0Rehabilitation Act of 1973<\/a>. It incorporated and selected international standards such as the\u00a0Web Content Accessibility Guidelines<\/a>\u00a0(WCAG 2.0) to be applied to websites, electronic documents, and software. Eventually, this not only impacts federal agencies but also all companies and all digital communication with a federal agency.<\/p>\n Lawsuits with claims on web accessibility\u00a0began to spike in 2015<\/a>, a trend that hasn\u2019t subsided. According to the best available data, over 260 suits were filed by the end of 2016. In 2017, 430 lawsuits were filed in the first half of the year, and the number unexpectedly doubled to 814 by the end of Q3. During 2018,\u00a0thousands of cases<\/a>\u00a0were filed all across the United States, with New York and Florida topping the list. We saw a rise of\u00a0177% in 2017 with 2258<\/a>\u00a0lawsuits, both individual and class action, filed by blind or visually impaired plaintiffs.<\/p>\n However, these numbers only indicate the number of lawsuits filed in courts of law. Although it is difficult to quantify them as they never become part of the public record, it is generally accepted among experts that only 5% of these legal threats are taken to trial, meaning that 40,000 demand letters remain outside of the courtroom. According to reports, 2019 is tripling that.<\/p>\n Although last year saw\u00a0several reported cases<\/a>\u00a0involving many well-known online companies, most of the lawsuits filed in courts involved small and medium businesses. One of the most highlighted incidents was when Emily Fuller, a visually impaired woman, sued 175 business owners as their websites weren\u2019t ADA compliant. In all of the cases, she claimed that the sites weren\u2019t compatible with her screen reader.<\/p>\n Even though it would be unfair to describe most ADA lawsuits this way, some experts call it\u00a0the wave of \u201ccorporate extortion\u201d<\/a>. Businesses are being urged to take a serious look at their websites and ensure that their digital presence is accessible to all users. Against these kinds of lawsuits, businesses face financial penalties of not being compliant.<\/p>\n In cases where both parties agree to settle, currently, the average is set at a minimum of $20,000. If the company loses the case in court, the fine can be up to $55,000. This excludes the cost of attorney fees, paying the plaintiff a huge compensation for damages and redesigning the websites to become compliant within a matter of days. Given these numbers, it is clear that the cost of not being compliant can be crushing, even for a medium business with a sizeable budget.<\/p>\n Of course, there is no reason to assume this trend will be limited to the U.S. Many other governments around the world have also incorporated web accessibility requirements such as the\u00a0E.U<\/a>.,\u00a0Australia, and the\u00a0United Kingdom<\/a>. Many of these laws will demand the same\u2014if not more stringent\u2014levels of compliance, as they, like their American counterpart, are almost all based on the internationally recognized\u00a0WCAG guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n When it comes to prioritizing web accessibility, the benefits are far greater than you think. In a world where 1 out of 4 people encounter accessibility issues while using the web, incorporating accessibility features can actually help business growth by making the site friendly to all users, thus expanding your site\u2019s audience.<\/p>\n An accessible site allows the content, product, and service to be available to a wider range of people besides users with disabilities, including elderly people with age-related disabilities and users with circumstantial needs.<\/p>\n Conversely, by ignoring the issue, accessibility can\u00a0cut off your business from large swaths of potential customers<\/a>. This means that you\u2019d be turning your back on 20% of the world\u2019s population\u2014or 1.3 billion people\u2014who experience any type of disability.<\/p>\n To illustrate this point, take the average visually impaired user. He or she probably uses screen reader software to navigate through websites. These assistive devices rely on different code structures and standards of the site\u2019s code to determine the context and structure of the web page. A site must be programmed in order to be compatible with this software. A website that isn\u2019t suitable for a screen reader is essentially closed off to a large segment of visually impaired customers, as\u00a071% of disabled users will click away from a website that they find difficult to use.<\/a><\/p>\n In addition, as the baby boomer generation ages,\u00a0a big opportunity thus arises<\/a>\u00a0putting age-related disabilities on the radar of digital accessibility and creating new audiences who will appreciate a fully-accessible online experience.<\/p>\n2. Avoid the cost of getting sued<\/h2>\n
\u00a03. Expand your audience<\/h2>\n
![\"Inclusive](\"https:\/\/greenixmedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/disability-audience.jpg\")
<\/p>\n4. Boost your SEO efforts<\/h2>\n