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I recently attended a regional marketing conference and sat in on a presentation about web accessibility that really impacted me. Digital accessibility means that websites, tools, and technologies are designed and developed so people with disabilities can fully use them. I don’t suffer from any disabilities, but couldn’t stop thinking about how digital design impacts those with disabilities.
One of the stories referenced at the conference was about an individual who wanted to go to an out-of-state baseball game with his friends. He first downloaded the MLB app but learned it didn’t work with a screen reader. He then had to make a number of phone calls and spent hours on the phone. It wasn’t until he gave the tickets to his sighted friends that he learned MLB had sent him tickets to the wrong game.
If a web page includes visual content, a person who is blind can't see it. These individuals might access the computer's output using synthesized text-to-speech technology known as a "screen reader," or they might use a small Braille output device. Images must be accompanied (in the code behind-the-scenes) with alternate text that describes the images' content for anyone unable to see visual content.
If a web page includes audio content, a person who is deaf or hard of hearing won't be able to hear it. This content must also be provided as text, such as in a transcript. If the site includes a video, that file should be closed captioned. Closed captions appear in a text track, usually at the bottom of the video player, so users who can't hear the audio (or who don't speak the language) can tell what's being said.
For those of us in martech, ensuring and maintaining accessibility is more important than ever for a number of reasons.
Signed on July 26, 1990 by George H.W. Bush, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became the world's first comprehensive civil rights law for people with disabilities. Its initial mission was to protect people with disabilities from discrimination. Initially, the ADA focused on:
Since 1996, the ADA set out to keep pace with the rapidly changing technology of our times. The target is websites that create unnecessary barriers that make it difficult or impossible for people with disabilities to use, just as physical barriers like steps can prevent those in wheelchairs from entering a building.
Any website funded by a state or local government is required to comply with the ADA, as are businesses that are open to the public. And, any commercial website that sells goods and services can be considered open to the public. Accessibility regulations continue to evolve, so it’s better to err on the side of caution.
A number of large companies have successfully been sued:
Forbes reported that in 2023, 77% of lawsuits filed were against organizations with under $25 million in revenue so it isn’t just the big brands that need to pay attention.
Accessibility is a business strategy and foundational to success. With the rise of e-commerce and remote work during COVID, we now live in a digital-first world. Before COVID, e-commerce was steadily growing, but it still represented a smaller portion of overall retail sales. According to an Adobe report, total online spending in May 2020 hit $82.5 billion, up 77% year-over-year. Buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) grew 195% at that same time. Retailers who had not leveraged eCommerce scrambled to set up online platforms, while those with existing online stores saw a significant increase in demand. Even post-pandemic, many consumers continue to work remotely or hybrid and still prefer online shopping. Online engagement is replacing physical interaction, deepening reliance on accessible digital experiences.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization reports that an estimated 1.3 billion people in the world experience a disability - either permanently or temporarily. That’s 16% of the world’s population and 1 in 6 in the United States. This number is expected to rise as the population increases and people live longer.
Ensuring and maintaining digital accessibility allows companies and organizations to tap into a wider market. Yet, across the top one million homepages, there were a staggering 56,791,260 accessibility errors detected - an average of 56.8 errors per page. This statistic is shocking considering Gartner’s analysis shows accessible compliant websites will outperform their competitors by a factor of 50.
User experience encompasses all aspects of the end-user’s interaction with a company, its services, and its products. It's how a user feels when they interact with software - websites, mobile applications, smart watches, smart cars, smart homes, or refrigerators. Due to the increase in technology usage combined with the killer brands that set the bar for best digital practices (Amazon, Netflix, Google, Uber, Square), humans now have high expectations for user experience.
Accessible design leads to a better overall user experience, as it emphasizes clear and simple navigation, readable content, and functional design, benefiting all users, not just those with disabilities.
Accessible websites are often better optimized for search engines in general.
According to Browserstack, Google is the leading browser in terms of market share, with 60% of all users preferring it. And Google will penalize a website by minimizing visibility if the Google bot detects a website isn’t fully accessible.
In fact, Google has a full range of tools to help with accessibility. Google is also building a suite of hardware and software tools to assist with accessibility, such as:
Accessibility is an ethical decision and a moral obligation.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR), also called corporate citizenship, is about operating an organization to treat internal and external stakeholders ethically, increase human development, and positively impact society and the environment.
Many companies and organizations are now addressing DEI in the workplace and fostering DEI training and task forces. Promoting web accessibility is also part of corporate social responsibility, reflecting a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in the digital space.
In 2008, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) established the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Its purpose was to provide a single shared standard for web content accessibility that meets the needs of individuals, organizations, and governments on a global scale.
WCAG 2.1 was introduced in 2018. It added more criteria focusing on mobile accessibility, people with low vision, and people with cognitive and learning disabilities. WCAG 2.2 was released in 2023. This version enhances accessibility for users with cognitive disabilities, adding criteria to improve interaction and access. WCAG 3 is currently in the exploratory phase.
W3C established three compliance levels. It is important to note that the higher tiers are to include each item from the lower tiers.
Experts say the most common legal complaints about websites are:
For apps, the most common legal complaints are:
Addressing just these few types of issues would significantly improve accessibility across the web.
Accessibility should be a priority for everyone in martech - strategists, designers, developers, marketers, and content creators.
If this has inspired you to learn more, Integrity Web Consulting would love to help. Our designers, developers, and SEO experts will conduct an audit of your website and evaluate the results. When building websites, our designers, developers, and SEO experts take accessibility into account - from the wireframes to the design, to the build, and during QA. For our maintenance and support clients, we run regular scans and make necessary updates that extend the life of the website and our clients' investments.
There are also a number of free online tools and Chrome extensions you can use to look at your website, such as:
It’s important to note no tool will catch everything, so just like AI, accessibility requires human involvement, and you’ll need to be up-to-date on the most recent WCAG compliance criteria. And, if your scan returns 150 issues, you also need to understand what really matters to the Google bots to prioritize the work.
You can also continue your accessibility journey with one of the following books:
