Addressing accessibility issues has become an overall focus of governments, businesses, and societies worldwide. Whether it’s being able to tour the Colosseum in Rome in a wheelchair or accessing a digital ordering menu in a restaurant with visual impairments, lack of accessibility is called out, tried, and sanctioned. Equity and access to opportunities are considered imperative to a well-functioning society, which is why change is being implemented. Inclusive products, services, and industries improve the lives of everyone, but they are essential to 1.3 billion people experiencing significant disability worldwide.
You can think of the hostile infrastructure in cities experiencing an increased rate of homelessness, like slanted benches to deter people from lying down. How would that affect a person who uses a crutch to move or someone who has a physical disability that requires them to rest? Then again, how would that bench affect a pregnant woman or an 87-year-old granny? Implementing accessibility-friendly urban architecture improves the lives of everyone in society.
But now, let’s look at what’s happening in the digital world. As I mentioned, accessibility could mean that you can’t order from the restaurant’s menu or read information about hurricane preparedness . These situations are completely different, but that is why this is something that needs to be addressed by online content creators, digital service providers, retail industries, and every other entity that wants to ensure accessibility to all potential audiences. With ADA , WCAG guidelines , and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act in full effect and the social pressure from those affected, digital content accessibility is addressed by more and more entities, ensuring that people with disabilities have a place in modern society. Still, WebAIM reports that 95.9% of home pages had detected WCAG 2 failures.
While legal compliance may be a high incentive for many organizations to ensure online content accessibility, other motivators result in business growth and overall cost reductions. We’ll delve deeper into these incentives and highlight the benefits beyond potential legal sanctions. By adhering to accessibility standards, businesses and governments can avoid legal repercussions but also engage a wider audience, enhance user satisfaction, build a positive brand image, and tap into the substantial economic power of the disabled community. Let’s go!
Businesses and governments are legally required to ensure their digital content is accessible. Different parts of the world have different compliance laws and regulations in place to deter discrimination against people with disabilities. Whether it’s the Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA, the European Union Web Accessibility Directive , the Equality Act in the UK, or the Accessible Canada Act , sanctions can result in significant fines, legal actions, and reputational damage.Â
Following web accessibility guidelines and achieving WCAG compliance is crucial to avoid these risks. Once the changes necessary have been implemented, companies that have a website or generate digital content can request accessibility audits and demand a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT), which works as proof of compliance by explaining how information and communication technology (ICT) meet section 508 accessibility standards based on WCAG requirement for AA standards . Failing to meet basic accessibility standards excludes millions of users and exposes organizations to potential liabilities. So why not just implement accessibility?
Broader audience reach
Accessibility to digital content is something that benefits people with disabilities by giving them alternative ways of accessing the online world. This includes individuals with visual, auditory, cognitive, and motor impairments. Some may use a mouse to navigate, others an adjusted type of keyboard, while there are those who use both. If the text is small, difficult to see in contrast with its background, or simply only in written form, people with limited vision won’t be able to access it. However, multiple font sizes, screen-reader activation, or clear contrast activated via one button accessible through the tab key on a keyboard opens the world of accessibility to everyone who faces this impairment.
People with visual disabilities may turn to assistive technologies like screen readers, screen magnifiers, or braille displays that give them a tactile alternative to reading. There are also head pointers, trackballs, or eye-tracking systems that allow people with mobility conditions to access digital content. Accessible websites focus on the four fundamental WCAG principles that state that online content should be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. That is the norm, and people with disabilities would obviously benefit from content accessibility. It’s safe to say that accessible content features and strategies can help tap into this diverse audience.
Additionally, choosing an audio version of a written article allows anyone to listen to that article when otherwise engaged. It’s a simple function that improves the website navigation and browsing experience for every person who wants or needs that alternative to access your online content.
Financial benefits
Digital accessibility isn’t just ethical; it’s economically beneficial. Making content accessible opens it up to millions of users with disabilities, who control a substantial portion of the market’s spending power. Every industry out there works on the potential for profit, so why would anyone impose barriers on the $13 trillion annual spending power of the disabled community?Â
Furthermore, by alienating people with disabilities, you might wind up also alienating their friends and family, which adds more than 3.3 billion potential consumers. By making digital content accessible, businesses and governments can tap into this economic power, driving growth and increasing market share. The benefits of accessible content extend to improved customer satisfaction and retention. This inclusive approach helps businesses stay ahead of competitors who overlook accessibility.
Digital accessibility has a positive impact on everyone
Enhancing digital accessibility often benefits a broader audience, a phenomenon known as the “curb-cut effect.” Improvements initially made for users with disabilities, like curb cuts or text messaging, ultimately serve a wide range of people, demonstrating the universal benefits of accessibility.
But let’s take another example. Let’s say you are always on the run and are required, for your job, to stay up to date on the latest economic news, or you simply like to be informed while dealing with other daily activities. Accessible content design allows you to listen to the latest Forbes article regarding the overnight flip of some market stock or a blog article about the frightening state of ocean currents. Without it, you’d have to read the article, which, while it may be an option, could be something you opt out of if you could listen to it instead.
Enhanced user experience
Accessible content improves the overall user experience for everyone, including those with temporary or situational disabilities. This can lead to higher engagement, satisfaction, and customer loyalty. Ensuring online content is accessible enhances usability for all users, making it a smart investment. For instance, at one point, I could not use my right hand for anything, and while this was a temporary disability, as a righty, it heavily impacted my online adventures. It was difficult for me to use a mouse, and I was unable to work because of it. If it weren’t for the tab key function, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything online.
On the other hand, while close captions make content accessible for people with hearing disabilities, it was proven that close captions on Facebook ads increase view time by an average of 12, and in one study from the U.S. Department of Labor that tested information retention based on the format of delivery resulted in a 10% retention for oral-only, 35% for visual-only and a whopping 65% for both visual and oral and it overall improves literacy levels. It’s safe to say that everyone benefits from accessibility features or alternatives to experiencing digital content based on abilities and preferences.
Brand reputation
Prioritizing accessibility demonstrates a commitment to inclusivity and corporate social responsibility. This enhances brand reputation, fostering trust and loyalty among all users, including those with disabilities. Creating accessible content and using accessible content tools show a proactive approach to social responsibility. In a post-pandemic world, employees and customers have higher expectations from these brands. They want to share values, but these values need to be upheld. When it comes to attracting employees, a strong brand makes organizations more appealing, especially to the younger generations that have a more embedded sense of justice and equity.
By 2025, millennials are expected to make up 75% of the workforce , and 76% of them consider a company’s social and environmental commitments before choosing to join the team or not. In that case, not adhering to inclusionary and environmentally conscious business practices will hurt a company more than spending more on that. Furthermore, 86% of consumers expect brands to address and solve societal problems, with 87% purchasing products due to a company advocating for an issue they are also invested in. Still, trust is very important in brand reputation, and brand trust increases when a brand walks the talk.
Your SEO ranking will thank you
While the algorithm for search engines like Google is a secret even the best SEO analysts can only guess at, there is no denying that accessible content enhances SEO rankings for websites. Search engines benefit from accessible content just as users do, but in a different manner. If someone can simply access online content and understand it, search engines can better understand accessible content. They do this by being able to access and understand content through clearly labeled tags and semantic HTML tags. This helps operating systems understand which text is a heading through proper formatting, understand context, and better identify the content.
In other words, if your content is accessible to screen readers, it is also more likely to be indexed correctly by search engines, improving your site’s visibility and ranking because search engines are more likely to correctly understand the digital content.
Making digital content accessible is not only a legal requirement but also a strategic advantage for businesses and governments. It expands audience reach, improves user experience, enhances brand reputation, and brings significant financial benefits.
Common barriers to accessibility
Accessibility barriers can affect people differently depending on their disability. In order to create and publish accessible content online, one has to consider these different obstacles and provide alternative methods to understand and experience online content. The following examples are simple ways to solve these accessibility barriers and ensure your content is accessible to everyone, regardless of their abilities.
Color contrast: Websites that don’t consider accessibility in their design can lead to low contrast between different elements, like text, headings, background images, and so on. Ensuring sufficient contrast between text and background will make content legible for visually impaired users.Alt text: Providing descriptive text for images so screen reader users can understand visual content. Alt text or alternative text can be used for all images or visuals, but those that are not necessary for the context of the content don’t require a textual description. With alt text, screen readers will read out loud the description provided, giving people with visual disabilities the context that would otherwise be understood.Descriptive links: Using clear and descriptive text for hyperlinks to aid user navigation. When the anchor text for links isn’t descriptive, people with disabilities won’t be aware of the possibility of accessing additional information, actionable links (shopping buttons), or navigational links within digital online content like flipbooks.Keyboard navigation: Ensuring all functions are accessible via keyboard for users with motor disabilities. This helps people with mobility impairments access every part of your website or digital content with only the TAB key by selecting each element on the page, reading out loud what it represents, and then allowing them to activate it through the ENTER key and experience the content. Some people use minimalist type of keyboards with only a few keys that allow them to navigate any online content.Â
Real-world impact
Since the global pandemic, there has been an increase in online education, employment, communication, entertainment, civic participation, and government functions. In many cases, the services were moved at least partially online, limiting access to digital content to 16% of the world’s population. The highest impact was felt in the following industries:
Education: Students with disabilities need accessible learning materials, such as captioned videos and screen reader-compatible documents, for equal educational opportunities. Without these, their educational experience can be full of barriers that limit their access to opportunities. Think about what online schooling was like for someone who couldn’t see or hear during the pandemic when all classes were moved online.Retail: Accessible websites enable all users, including those with disabilities, to easily shop online, improving customer satisfaction and expanding the customer base. Digital catalogs like PDFs or e-commerce websites have several limitations, but converting them into accessible flipbooks opens the doors to all people with disabilities who would like to shop at your online store.Public services: Accessible government websites ensure all citizens can access important information and services, fostering inclusivity and civic engagement. While the example of hurricane preparedness can be quite alarming, the fact remains. According to a DOJ report on federal government compliance with Section 508 in 2023, 50% or fewer of public-facing websites tested were compliant.Â
Despite barriers and obstacles encountered by people with disabilities during their online browsing experiences, the Internet’s enormous potential for social inclusion shouldn’t be overlooked. Simply being able to access online information resulted in an improved quality of life (48% to 27%), level of worldly awareness (52% to 39%), social life (42% to 30%), and interconnectivity (44% to 38%) for people experiencing disability. Internet technologies bring significant benefits to people with specific types of disabilities while offering potential opportunities to all people with disabilities.
Accessible solutions with Flipsnack
As part of our venture into ensuring that all online content is accessible to all users, we provide our customers with accessibility features that transform all digital content into accessible flipbooks. Our user-friendly Design Studio offers comprehensive tools to make digital content accessible, ensuring compliance with global accessibility standards. Features include:
Screen reader optimization: Ensures all content is readable by screen readers, improving accessibility for visually impaired users.Keyboard navigation: Enhances flipbook navigation for users with motor disabilities, ensuring they can easily access all site functions.Alt text integration: Simplifies the addition of descriptive text to images, making visual content accessible to all.
AI-powered tools: Streamlines the process of transforming PDFs and other content types into accessible formats, making it easier to comply with accessibility standards through AI-generated summaries for text content on every page of your flipbook.
Through Flipsnack for accessibility , businesses, educational institutions, and governments can create inclusive and accessible online publications that reach a broader audience and enhance their market presence. In order to create and publish accessible digital content through Flipsnack, you’ll have to follow a few simple steps:
Create an account and upload your content, whether through PDF conversion or creating it directly in Flipsnack;
Enhance and personalize your flipbook in our intuitive Design Studio with multimedia content and engaging interactive elements like videos, GIFs, product tags, pop-ups, hyperlinks, and shopping buttons;Â
Activate the accessibility feature from Customize and click on Generate content . Our integrated AI tool will generate page content summaries. All that’s left to do is check for accuracy.
Publish and share your accessible flipbook content. Your readers can enjoy your flipbook through our accessible player, designed for keyboard navigation and screen reader compatibility.
Last word
In an era of ubiquitous digital interactions, addressing accessibility issues has become imperative for governments, businesses, and societies worldwide. From ensuring physical access to historical sites to enabling digital interactions for individuals with visual impairments, accessibility is recognized as a fundamental right . This recognition has driven significant changes in how products, services, and infrastructures are designed, emphasizing the need for inclusivity.
