2024-08-27
Is Your Website Secretly Excluding Customers? Fix It Now!
Imagine this: You’ve spent weeks perfecting your website design, optimizing it for speed, and making sure it looks stunning on every device. But despite all that effort, you’re losing potential customers. Why? Because your website isn’t accessible to everyone. Without realizing it, you could be excluding a large portion of your audience—and this isn't just about people with disabilities, it’s also about users on different devices or those with poor internet connections. The good news? You can fix it!
What Is Website Accessibility?
Let’s start with the basics. Website accessibility means designing and developing your site so that everyone can use it, regardless of their physical abilities or the technology they are using. This includes people with visual impairments, hearing impairments, cognitive disabilities, and even those navigating on older or non-standard devices. It’s a bit like adding a wheelchair ramp to a store; you’re making sure that everyone can get in and shop.
Why Accessibility Matters for Your Business
You may wonder, “Does accessibility really matter for my small business?” The short answer: Yes. Absolutely. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it’s also crucial for your bottom line. Consider this: nearly 1 in 5 Americans lives with a disability. That’s a massive chunk of potential customers you could be excluding without even realizing it. And if that doesn’t convince you, keep in mind that search engines like Google favor websites with good accessibility, meaning it can improve your SEO too.
Signs Your Website is Excluding Customers
Visual Indicators
One of the most common ways websites exclude users is through poor visual design. Low-contrast text is hard to read, especially for users with visual impairments or color blindness. If your text blends into the background or is too small to read easily, you’re already pushing some visitors away.
Missing alternative text (alt text) on images is another issue. For users with screen readers, this is how they understand what an image is. If your website uses images without descriptive alt text, you’re cutting off key parts of your content from visually impaired users.
Technical Barriers
Does your website rely heavily on mouse-based navigation? If so, you're missing out on users who rely on keyboard navigation due to motor disabilities. Keyboard accessibility is crucial, yet many websites overlook this simple feature. Another common issue is videos without captions. This excludes users with hearing impairments, and honestly, anyone who prefers watching videos with the sound off (which, let’s face it, is a lot of us these days).
Personal Anecdote
I once worked with a client who had a visually stunning website. They had invested in a photographer, ensuring every image was crisp and beautiful. But they were puzzled why their bounce rates were so high. After running an accessibility audit, we found that none of their images had alt text, and the color contrast on key sections was far too low. After making these changes, their engagement shot up, and bounce rates dropped dramatically. Sometimes the smallest changes can have the biggest impact.
The Business Impact of Exclusion
Lost Revenue
It’s simple: If your website isn’t accessible, you’re losing money. Imagine running a physical store but locking the door to 20% of your customers. That’s essentially what’s happening if your website isn’t inclusive. Studies show that companies with accessible websites can see a 12% increase in sales after making improvements. And let's not forget, the user experience is central to conversion—if people can't use your site, they won't buy from you.
SEO Penalties
Google cares about user experience, and poor accessibility impacts your SEO. Websites with better usability rank higher. Google even considers elements like mobile-friendliness and site structure when determining rankings. If your website excludes users, you're likely missing out on traffic and conversions due to lower search rankings.
How to Identify if Your Website is Excluding Users
Automated Accessibility Audits
You can start by running automated tools like WAVE or Google Lighthouse. These tools quickly scan your website and flag potential accessibility issues, like poor color contrast or missing alt text. Lighthouse even provides tips on how to improve mobile performance and overall user experience.
User Testing
While automated tools are helpful, nothing beats real-world testing. Ask people with varying abilities to navigate your site and provide feedback. You’ll likely be surprised by what you learn. For example, a confusing checkout process might be perfectly clear to you, but someone with cognitive difficulties might find it overwhelming.
Fixing Accessibility Issues: Best Practices
Improve Visual Design
Ensure there’s a strong contrast between your text and background. Tools like WebAIM’s contrast checker can help you figure out whether your website meets contrast standards. Additionally, make sure your text is resizable, allowing users with visual impairments to enlarge the text without breaking the design.
Add ARIA Labels and Descriptive Alt Text
ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) labels make sure that screen readers can interpret your website correctly. This can be a game changer for users with visual impairments. Similarly, adding descriptive alt text to your images ensures that users with screen readers can understand the visual content of your site.
Caption Videos and Add Transcripts
It’s important to include captions for all video content. Not only does this help users with hearing impairments, but it’s also beneficial for non-native speakers or anyone who prefers watching videos in silent mode. Similarly, adding transcripts to audio content makes it accessible to a broader audience.
Ensure Keyboard Navigation
Make sure that your website can be navigated using just the keyboard. You can test this yourself by unplugging your mouse and trying to navigate your website. Can you get through forms? Can you access all the menus? If not, it's time to make some changes.
Legal and Ethical Considerations
Legal Risks
Did you know that businesses have been sued for not having accessible websites? Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), your website could be considered a "public space," and if it's not accessible, you may be liable for fines. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are a good reference point for ensuring your site is compliant.
Ethical Responsibility
Beyond legal risks, it’s simply the right thing to do. By making your website accessible, you’re showing that you care about all your customers, regardless of their abilities. This can boost your brand’s reputation and foster loyalty among your audience.
Conclusion: Make Your Website Inclusive Today
Don’t let your website unintentionally exclude potential customers. By making small adjustments—like improving visual design, ensuring keyboard navigation, and adding alt text—you can open your business to a much broader audience. Remember, accessible websites are not just about compliance or ethics, they’re about increasing conversions, enhancing user experience, and growing your business.
Ready to make your website more inclusive? Contact me today for a full accessibility audit and start reaching the customers you’ve been missing!