The True Cost of Not Making Your Website Accessible
With global internet usage the highest it’s ever been, there are potentially millions of untapped customers that you’re missing out on if your website is not accessible. In fact, nearly half of the world’s population uses the internet on a regular basis. If you haven’t taken the time to assess your website and whether or not it is accessible to internet users with disabilities, now’s the time.
Aside from missing out on potential customers and sales, you’re potentially harming your brand’s reputation when you don’t work toward a fully accessible website. Let’s take a look at the true cost of not making your website handicap accessible.
Limiting Your Customer Base
As we mentioned, if you don’t make your website accessible, you’re missing out on countless potential customers. With so much happening online today, businesses are actually ditching traditional brick and mortar sales locations and sustaining revenues from an entirely online model. If you’re limiting your customer base by not making your website accessible, you’re hurting your bottom line.
Even if you don’t have an international online presence, making your website accessible can still unlock access to new customer segments in your market. Don’t limit your revenue potential by neglecting your website’s accessibility.
Brand Reputation and Recognition
Companies that put web accessibility as a focal point in their business often win more customers. While price is always important when trying to sell products and services, customers also care about the positions that companies take on important issues. Web accessibility is an extremely important issue, and if your business comes across as not caring about those with disabilities, you can be sure that you’ll drive away potential customers.
Brand reputation and recognition are both vital for the success and growth of your business. In today’s competitive online marketplace, it takes a lot more than offering the cheapest price in order to be successful online. By working toward creating a website that’s accessible for everyone, you’re showing your customers the value of inclusivity.
Promoting an Inclusive Internet
If you don’t currently have a disability that impacts the way you go online, chances are you haven’t stopped to think about how a disability can impact something that’s so integral to many of our lives. Going online can happen with the tap of a button for so many of us, but for others, getting online can be a challenge.
When businesses fail to recognize the importance of creating an accessible online environment, everyone pays the price. There are so many high-quality web accessibility services out there that can create a custom plan for your website and business. What once was a long, drawn out manual review and remediation process can now be done with just a few lines of code on your site’s back-end.
If that’s not reason enough to make your business website accessible, then the legal ramifications of not doing so will may certainly tip the scales.
