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Accessibility & Effectiveness
21 January 2022     3363

Accessibility & Effectiveness

When it comes to website accessibility the conversation is usually centered around ethical issues, which should not come as a surprise.

The ethical dimension takes priority, naturally, but this does not mean that accessibility will not help your business grow more popular on average.

Before we move to the effectiveness aspect of it we should first discuss the ethical dimension.


Accessibility logo



Why should we make an accessible website?

Ethical progress is inherently valuable. First of all, we need to understand that the ethical is not similar in nature to the aesthetic.

When making business decisions, if we only value profit, it is understandable to evaluate different outcomes and choose the one which bring in the most money.

The ethical approach is different. Any authentically ethical behavior is innately good for the subject. It does not matter if the profit range shrinks to .5% or grows to 2.5%.

As a result, if we are discussing our relation to our customers the first subject of the enquiry should be how to help them. Period. That is at the core of any successful business and not profit maximization, or any attempt to do so.



The word solidarity in different languages


What is really valuable is not how many zeroes there are on your bank account but how good your life is in general.

And a life cannot be called good if it is alienated from society, considering the fact that humans are social animals.


Disabilities

Most of contemporary societies are similar in one way. They cause similar disabilities in different people.

There is nothing inherently "disabled" about a person with a missing leg for example. The disability comes in with the structure of the society.

In other words, people are disabled only in so far as societies make them disabled. This does not mean that the condition is any less real. It just shifts the cause.

It should not be surprising, then, if any person with a conscience wants to change or improve the situation in this regard.

Of course, changing things in just design will not change much. But this is our job, therefore as long as we are doing it, and not some other thing, it is our duty to do it with consideration.


Different viewpoints

These factors may not seem enough for some to act (although they are, in fact, enough). So, we will add, on top of this, that accessibility features are not simply for ethical, disabled folk.


Do not leave anyone behind


It is useful even if you only care about the cash in your pocket. Users might experience a lot of problems if your website is not optimized.

WiredImpact points out that they can have slow internet, or be looking at the screen outside, where the sun is shining brightly, or they might not be in a situation where they are able to listen to the audio files. They might also have small screens or even not be tech savvy, in the widest sense, at all.


These following things are also problematic:

  • Screen reader reading your entire navigational panel before getting to the content on every page
  • Your website not being optimized for keyboard use
  • Hidden links; maybe the contrast is too low or maybe you forgot to outline them
  • Video files without the accompanying captions of any sort
  • Too many animations which clutter the screen and make it too hard to go through content
  • Not being able to change the font size
  • Captchas which block a lot of users - some because they are not able to complete them, others because they simply do not care to.



Conclusion

No matter how you cut it, you should pay close attention to how accessible your website is. So it is always in your self-interest to optimize your website in this way.

There already are trends on the topic abroad. You have an unique opportunity to be ahead of the curve in Georgia.

Ika

Ika