Why Website Accessibility is Key to Expanding Your Audience

In Today's World, having a website is essential for an organisation and Individuals to connect with their audiences. But Simply having a website for the sake of a website is not enough for people to understand, it should have the business content which you are currently running.How do you think people who have disabilities should also access your website, if it is not, your website is in huge trouble, why? It is because about 1 million people are having disabilities even they need to access your website.

What are the types of users with disabilities?‍

Users with Visually impaired rely on screen readers to interpret the content of websites.

Users with Hearing Impaired need captions for any audio or video content.

Users with mobility Impaired may use only a keyboard or other assistive devices to navigate.

As I told Earlier huge number of Audience you will lose, if your website is not accessible

Seo And Organic Reach

As you search some query on google, you see the website ranking at first, may be on same topic your website is not appearing on top of google search, you wonder why, The website which has all accessibility will likely to be on top of google search, We can say that website accessibility has positive impact on SEO ranking.
Have you heard about Alt text for the images while developing the website, developers know what it is, do you? Let me explain you, these are the alternative text for the images, these are required for the user who won't be have visual impairment and also required, if the image is not loaded in the website these text will show user there is for example flower image is there, these also required by search engine to index , ohh it is a win-win for all

These give accessibility and well structured content so that website also loads faster, Ultimately expands your site visibility and rank high in search engines

Better UX For All

UX is User Experience, Now this comes to picture, while you are designing the website make sure to have larger text, clear navigation, sufficient color contrast, these factors helps the website can be used all type of the users, and especially for the mobile users with slower connection

The clear navigation will help the user to easily navigate to the target page, if you make user tech-savvy navigation, they won't stay in the website for longer and may be never come back, and the website having larger text, accessible color schemes will help the user with low-light environment or those with color blindness

Avoiding Legal and Reputational Risks

In many countries they are implementing the rule stating that websites should be accessible by all users, For example in the United states of America, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates that public websites provide equal access to users with disabilities.
Fail to comply with accessibility standards can cause lawsuits, fine or any other legal consequence

The issue is not only this, this ensures that your brand website ensures a positive experience for all users. It boosts your reputation as a socially responsible entity, which can create more trust and loyalty among your audience.
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Gaining People Trust and Staying Competitive in a Digital World

When people feel that they are included, they are likely to return. This shows to people that you care about all types of the users who visit your website.  This helps you foster trust and loyalty. The Most powerful form of marketing is Word-of-mouth, which leads to business positivity and can lead to long term success.

As a seo Practitioner, when I type some keywords into Google I see Number of websites which are ranking, how do you stand out of these competitors? One of the ways is to have website availability to all type of users. Nowadays, companies are working on accessibility as a core part of their digital strategy. Falling behind make your brand outdated or unresponsive to evolving user needs

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Now we have covered accessibility is important, Google SEO uses a software named web crawlers, to crawl your website, this crawler also checks website accessibility. The main question, how do I make my website more accessible, here are some of the ways:

Add Alternative Text (Alt text) to the images: As I have mentioned before, these text are very useful for the users having visual impairment, In webflow, It shows an error message as missing alt text, if the description is not given, then it takes the image name as alt text.
The devices with slower network, take more time for the images to load, alt text will indicate user that there is a image and what the image is

Use Proper heading: Proper heading is essential for a website, Google crawl all these things, if you miss a heading for an example First heading is h1 and then you add h3 directly, Google in page insights and webflow will give warning, structuring helps screen readers interpret the content effectively and improves navigation for all users.

Ensure the keyboard Navigation: Make sure website can be navigated using only keyboard, there are users who cannot use a mouse

Descriptive links: These are required for the website to ensure that instead user hearing click here, they can hear “Learn more about our services” to give context to users using assistive technologies.

Transcripts for audio and video: Always remember to add audio or video transcripts, in order to ensure everyone has access to the information

I came across the Bain & Company's website, located at www.bain.com, incorporates an accessibility feature that improves user experience, which also unlocks the website can be used by all users. This feature allows for greater inclusivity, ensuring that users with varying needs can effectively navigate and interact with the site.

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