About three billion people are using the internet daily. This is a vast amount of people, and many businesses are taking advantage of it. However, if you want to fully take advantage of these people, you should also consider their disabilities and digital literacy. You can do this by improving your online business’ digital accessibility.
What Is Digital Accessibility?
Digital accessibility is one of the essential factors in growing your online business. It’s also one of the most fundamental. So you should know about it before you build your app or your website.
Essentially, digital accessibility concerns itself with the equality of information. This means that your online consumers should have access to all the necessary information on your website regardless of their digital literacy, disability, and more. We all know that digital information is essential when making an online purchase. Hence, it is of the utmost importance that you improve your digital accessibility immediately once you’ve started your online business.
It’s not easy to navigate websites and apps for some people, especially those who’ve reached a much older age. Moreover, specific disabilities can lead to problems interpreting information in your apps and website. The number of disabled people is growing, and it’s your job to make your online business accessible to them. But how can you increase your online business’ digital accessibility?
Fundamentals of Digital Accessibility
The fundamentals of digital accessibility rely on our senses, primarily hearing and sight. Specific fonts should be large enough for people with eyesight problems. Pop-up notifications should be loud, clear, and more. There is a simple way for you to make your website digitally accessible for all kinds of people, even people with disabilities, and that’s by utilizing a content management system (CMS) with integrated web accessibility standards (WCAG).
WCAG Guidelines
The WCAG guideline lists essential ways to make your website and app more digitally accessible. It’s a long list and one that concerns itself with the perception and conformance of your website, among other things. In some countries, utilizing the WCAG guideline is part of digital law. If you don’t comply with it, you can receive a warning. Some government representatives might ask you for a fine if you don’t comply with it after the warning.
Complying with WCAG guidelines is crucial for some countries, but if your country doesn’t require it, you still need to do it for the sake of your online consumers. By the end of the day, marginalizing specific individuals will only lead to disaster and bad PR for your company, so make sure to implement these changes. There are other ways you can improve your business’ digital accessibility. The first way is by increasing your font.
Other Things That’ll Make Your Online Business Accessible:
Font
The first thing you should consider is the font you use on your website. Small fonts can be problematic for many visitors, which can lead to many misunderstandings. Make sure you use fonts that are easy to understand. Various fonts such as Times New Roman and Calibri are some of the best fonts that are clear for everyone to see. Avoid fonts such as Algerian and cursive because they’re hard to read.
Increasing the size of the font can also make a difference. The bigger the font, the more likely people are to see it. This is essential for information that needs to be immediately seen by your website visitors.
Screen Reader Friendly
Some people who visit your website might use a screen reader to navigate it-people who have severe eyesight impairment.
This particular software reads your website’s content aloud. This can help people with disabilities access content on your website much easier. If you’re utilizing CMS software with WCAG integration, your website should already have this. However, if not, you might want to format it in a way its screen reader-friendly.
Placing landmarks, making it easier to interpret menus, and having alternative text for every image, all of this can make your site screen reader-friendly.
Put Legal Matters Out Front
Legal matters are crucial not just for people with disabilities but for those who want to ensure that their privacy is safe. If you’re a mortgage specialist who owns a lending company, you should have all sorts of legal matters right in front of your website. This is because you need to have all crucial information regarding your business operations and how it works. Any company that concerns itself with finances should have this on the front of their website.
Colors
Color blindness is a serious disability, and it’s one thing that can confuse your online customers. Red-green is the most common color blindness out there, so try to avoid these colors when designing your website.
Validate Your Digital Accessibility
Lastly, make sure to let an outsider validate your site or app’s digital accessibility. You can also run a survey among your consumers to see whether the information is accessible or not.
Digital accessibility is crucial for many online businesses out there. Make sure to make your website or app digitally accessible through the suggestions we’ve provided above.
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