How Website Accessibility Affects Your Brand’s Reputation and Success
If your business site isn’t broadly accessible by users with disabilities, you aren’t just missing out on revenue, but also exposing yourself to potential legal trouble.
By
Godwin Oluponmile
March
19, 2022
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 61 million adults in the United States live with a disability, and the World Health Organization has detailed in its World Report on Disability that 15% of the planet’s population struggles with some form of disability. With a focus on UK consumers specifically, the most recent (2019) Click-Away Pound Report research found that more than four million people in that country “…abandoned a retail website because of the barriers they found,” at a cost to retailers and other sellers of £17.1 billion ($22.3 billion).
If your business is online, it may experience injury even beyond such missed sales opportunities if those who are disabled can’t access its website. If it was not built in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design, the result could be legal proceedings, including settlements and penalties.
Clearly then, a brand should consider website accessibility [...]