Why accessibility and inclusion lead to successful digital products
Covid-19 pandemic has normalized remote work and therefore WFH (Work From Home) for many people is here to stay. This tremendous global shift towards remote work also helped to realize how crucially important accessible and inclusive digital experiences really are. Of course, WFH, the growing adoption of mobile devices, and ever-changing purchasing habits are only a few aspects forcing more of our leisure and work activities to go fully online.
Another important decisive factor for fast digitalization is the aging populations of industrialized nations and their deteriorating health conditions. According to CDC’s report, 61 million Americans(1 in 4 U.S. adults) have a disability that impacts major life activities. 13.7 percent of people with a disability have a mobility impairment with serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs while 10.8 percent have a cognition impairment with serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions. The report also shows that disability is more common among more vulnerable groups in society: women, American Indians, and lower-income adults.
Yet another factor making a tremendous demand for inclusive and culturally adapted digital products is the demographic revolution happening in America right now. The 60 million Hispanics living in the United States alone grew by 70% from 2010–2018 and accounts for a fifth of the total US population. What’s more, the Hispanic population in the US is expected to nearly double to 109 million in the next 40 years, which will impact the new American identity even more.
Accessibility vs. inclusive design
Before making statements about the benefits of accessibility and inclusivity for products, let’s define the similarities between the two. While accessibility aims to make sure people with disabilities can use websites and other digital products effectively, inclusive design on the other hand focuses on the products and services that can be used by a diverse group of people. These two terminologies are interconnected since the inclusive design, in particular, recognizes that solutions that work for people with a disability are likely to also work well for everybody.
Businesses usually act quite contradictory including accessibility as a nice to have feature somewhere in the distant future on the product development roadmap. But time and money can be saved following another approach. This classic ramp shoveler comic down below illustrates the principle behind the accessibility first approach and focuses on the idea of how efforts can be minimized to achieve the fastest and cost-effective solution.
How the business will benefit?
Building inclusive digital products from the start will benefit businesses in delivering successful products. Let’s look closer into additional benefits the business will get.
Accessible and inclusive products will help to reach more people. Subtitled videos we see on Netflix or Social media platforms are a good example. Even though subtitles were intended for people with hearing loss, they are widely used by many while commuting, browsing on social media, at work, or by foreigners watching movies to learn English or other major languages. The same goes for ALT attributes. Though alternative text to photos is first and foremost a principle of web accessibility dedicated to visually impaired users who are using screen readers, ALT attributes have additional benefits. In case an image cannot be loaded, Alt text will be displayed. Another benefit for business — additional SEO traffic since image descriptions will be indexed by search engine crawlers.
Inclusive design principles will help to discover the needs of various types of users. While companies think that their products are used by all, each product’s users may differ in the level of wealth, race, gender, physical abilities, and other aspects. While Siri and Google Assistant were not originally designed specifically for people with disabilities, there is no doubt about the tremendous benefits of these tools. Features like dictating text messages or opening specific apps without having to physically touch the device are just a few.
Another interesting accessibility feature, which was implemented for iOS lately is Headphone Accommodations. Since people age, they develop a common hearing loss condition, called presbycusis. In this condition hearing gradually deteriorated makes certain sounds distorted. That’s where Headphone Accommodations becomes handy in fine-tuning the vocals and sounds of your favorite music. And lastly, iOS 14 also came out with an accessibility feature called Sound Recognition. It enables your iPhone to listen to 12 different environmental sounds. Though this feature helps deaf people react to different sounds, imagine people, who can listen to music using headphones, while still being able to get notifications for Door Bell, Siren, Appliances, and even more.
Inclusivity will help businesses grow and maintain leading positions. Seizing opportunities and tapping into the culturally diverse and socially vulnerable groups can become one of the strategies leading to digital product success.
Harvard Business Review report states that Black and Latinx consumer populations contribute to more than $1 trillion each in spending power globally. This fact alone makes inclusivity a convincing reason for companies to consider aiming to position certain digital products and services for diverse communities. Another research by Nielsen suggests that by 2023 the buying power of the United States Latinx population is expected to top $1.9 trillion, making it larger compared with the GDP of Australia, Spain, or Mexico. Furthermore, the digital inclusion market, which takes into account socially vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, is becoming more legally bound. European Union’s Web Accessibility Directive will be effective soon not just for the public but also for private companies. Additional legally binding web accessibility documents in the US and other countries may also take place making accessible digital experiences for people more available.
Besides, this change is believed to shape the digital landscape of products and services used today. Firstly, it means additional requirements for web development, UX design, and SEO practices. Secondly, companies that violate human rights to web accessibility may get fines, and court judgments could take place. For instance, by not providing subtitles for a deaf person on Youtube, the company may get fines, and court judgments could take place.
Endnote
Accessibility and inclusion are becoming vital for businesses wanting to create successful products. It’s already seen that changing demographics and other aspects make inclusive design principles even more important in making sure that the company’s products cater to everybody, giving equal consideration to everyone’s unique needs. At the same time for businesses, it will bring new opportunities on the horizon of the ever-changing digital landscape.
Do you have any tips in making products accessible for all? I invite you to leave any valuable information in the comments section down below.
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