What is Web Accessibility (WiWA)
And How Does it Impact Us!
When most abled body persons think about Accessibility one may think of persons with a disability such as:
- Wheelchair-Bound
- Blind
- Deaf
- Limited Motor Mobility
- Etc…
But there are other forms of disabilities including:
- Color Blindness
- Sight Impaired ( Think of certain eye prescriptions requiring larger fonts for readability )
- Temporary Mobility Challenges
- Broken Arm
- A parent sitting at their desk with a newborn while taking an online test
- Mobile Phone or Tablet as the only temporary entry point to our site
- You get the point. This could be you…
So what can we do?
In order for websites to be accessible for a disabled person, the content must be efficiently coded so the screen-reading software can convert the words to audio. When there are issues with the code in regards to screen-readers going through the webpage, there can be severe negative consequences such as:
- Loss of potential customers, about 1 in 4 adult Americans have some range of disability
- As a whole, their disposable income is estimated at over 645 billion dollars annually
- Ranking poorly on search engines can translate to also losing customers who have no disabilities
- Facing institutional financial penalties
- Lawsuit
According to an analysis by international legal firm Seyfarth Shaw, in 2018 the number of federal lawsuits regarding web inaccessibility was recorded to be almost three times higher than the year before, going from 814 to 2,258.
In New York alone, lawsuits surrounding lack of accessibility amounted to 1,564, more than any other state in the country. The next highest state with these lawsuits was Florida which totaled 576.
These numbers are sure to rise in the next year. We want to be ahead of the game.