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Those with disabilities use the internet just like every other person. So, providing ways for people with disabilities to easily access and use your site can result in higher views and possible sales on your inventory. There are multiple benefits of adapting your site to accommodate those with disabilities.
Increased Revenue
There are approximately 1 billion people that use the internet who currently have a disability. In the United States, 15-20% of internet users have a disability. Those same users also have $220 billion in spending power. Every person that cannot find or use your site is a lost potential customer. So, it’s important that you make modifications to your site to receive as much traffic and revenue as possible.
Less Risk of Legal Action
It is possible that your website has legal requirements for web accessibility. It will save you a lot of time and money if you make your site accessible early on. Your business probably does not mean to discriminate against people with disabilities, but there are acts such as the ADA that require equal access for persons with disabilities to “places of public accommodation” like schools, movie theaters, and websites. It would be embarrassing and costly if legal action was taken against you for failing to provide equal access to your website visitors. That’s why it’s important to have eSSENTIAL Accessibility ADA website lawsuit reviews to avoid these kinds of situations.
Increase Usability For All Users
When you are looking at how you can implement accessibility in your sites, you will see usability problems that have been lingering in the site that you haven’t noticed before. Making your website accessible to people with disabilities makes it more user-friendly for all the users that visit your site. For example, mobile phone users are hampered by smaller screens and older users have some accessibility needs, so both will benefit from any site improvements. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines created another example of how usability is increased for all users when they began to require that all websites be able to be navigated with only a keyboard. Keyboards can help desktop users and those with disabilities who cannot use a mouse very well.
Search Engine Rankings
Google usually searches for text, so for your site to be more easily found, all your video and image tags should have transcripts and closed captions. Transcripts benefit those who are disabled or don’t have access to audio. Search engine rankings will also improve if users stay at your site for longer periods of time–increasing the usability on your site will encourage users to stay longer and explore your site.
Making your website accessible and user-friendly to those with disabilities can help you achieve more profits, better usability, and it can help you rank better in SEO. If you feel that your site needs to be a little more accessible to persons with disabilities, visit smartlydonewebsites.com and take a look at their instructions on how to make your website accessible. There are also many free tools provided by the community such as the Jaws screen reader and the web accessibility evaluation tool that can help on your journey to an accessible website.