Public use of the internet is now more than two decades old. Today, it’s no longer a novelty but a critical aspect of everyone’s life. With the advent of more sophisticated technology, internet access has seen a subtle shift from the tradition. In other words, websites and mobile applications have increasingly become more accessible to a broad spectrum of users. As a result, many organizations are waking up to the fact that website accessibility is useful for all. And more importantly, the benefits that come with it are boundless. If you haven’t given your website’s accessibility a thought, here are four reasons why you should.
Reduces Legal Risk
Mitigating legal risks is one of the most pragmatic reasons to make websites and mobile applications accessible. Disability inclusion in the overall strategy of your business helps to ensure compliance with state and federal standards. In the United States, for example, there are explicit non-discrimination and accessibility laws that require websites and mobile apps be accessible to all people, including those with disabilities. That means inaction might attract restitution and penalties that can, in no small degree, affect your business. A significant demonstration is when Target had to pay $6 million in damages to blind patrons for not embedding their e-commerce site with code that makes it fully usable by blind visitors.
Enhances Your Brand
Creating a site with accessibility in mind is one of the surefire ways to build positive public relations. For instance, most people use a keyboard to send commands to a computer, either through circumstance or preference. Whether someone has a permanent disability it can be frustrating not being able to navigate a website. That’s why you need to make sure your site is operable by keyboard. That is, site visitors can access forms, buttons, links, and move between other features using different keystrokes. The ease of use does not only give your visitors a better online experience but dramatically improves their chances of returning to your site in the future. That helps you to stand out from your competition for demonstrating social responsibility and being accessible to everyone, regardless of their situation.
Gives Your SEO A Boost
Having an accessible website design will directly improve your SEO. Perhaps, this is why search engines like Google index sites and make them easier to find in search results. This is if they have a properly marked-up semantic structure and well-labeled links and images. What’s more, better web experience for all users gives your site lower bounce rates, higher numbers of conversions, and more positive reviews than negative feedback. All these play a significant role in increasing your visibility to the virtual world as well as growing your audience and customer base.
Provides Significant Financial Gains
With a thoughtful and proper web design in place, your business can reap direct and indirect financial benefits stemming from the increased website use, as mention above. Evidently, this is a no-brainer! More customers, clients, subscribers, readers, and students will equate to more sales, services offered, content consumed, ad viewed, and registrations.
Web Content Development
If you’re looking to create a well-designed, easy-to-navigate and an accessible website, Web Content Development is your place to go. Our able team of web designers, developers, and digital marketers will help you every step of the way, from website design to creating a modern SEO strategy. Reach out to us to discuss your needs.
