In the UK, over 11 million people live with a limiting long term illness, impairment or disability (according to HM Government statistics). The number of people in this statistic increases with their ages. That suggests as the population ages, the number of people living with a disability will increase.
The same analysis suggests about a third of disabled people have difficulty accessing public commercial and leisure services because of their impairment. While there is significant anti–discrimination legislation in place, the provision of goods and services has not caught up with its legal obligations.
Also, the increasing numbers of people past the State Pension age who regularly access goods and services online has steadily increased throughout the last ten years. Many people find web sites confusing and challenging, particularly when they need to complete forms.
Public web sites are a primary place where service provision can achieve efficiency and equality. The technology exists within the web development world to make it much easier for web sites to tackle some of the most common areas that people find difficult to navigate online. Any modern web site, professionally designed and developed, should consider these issues throughout the design and production process. Self–made web sites are just as liable under discrimination legislation as professionally designed sites, and it is equally crucial for them to be accessible.
You may think that your business or web site does not attract the market demographic most affected by disabilities (or old age), so this is not relevant to your business. Disability can affect any age group, economic or social group, industrial sector or political inclination, so your web site is relevant to people with disabilities or technology–related concerns.
If you consider those groups when designing your web site, you will notice a significant improvement in experience for all your users. When you improve user experience, you likely will see an increase in sales.
We can help you create an accessibility strategy for your existing web site. Such an approach identifies principle elements that need changing and prioritises how you add them to your site. That method will help to mitigate any legal challenges based on your existing web site, as long as you stick to the plan! Also, it will help you implement changes in manageable, discrete pieces of work.
An accessibility strategy is also valuable for projects building new web sites and applications. The plan can specify requirements that a project must meet at the outset. It creates a framework for the project to consider accessibility during design and throughout.
Contact us for more information about creating an accessibility strategy for your web site or project.