Good accessibility is good business.
- It’s the right thing to do.
That should be the only reason you need. Unfortunately, people.
- It provides access to a market of customers that otherwise cannot use (and spend money) on your product. In the US, people with disabilities have about $500 billion in disposable income.
- It provides a competitive advantage over companies that are not accessible.
- It frequently provides higher quality than inaccessible products. Products that are thought through from an accessibility lens are often easier to use for non-disabled users, or provide features that otherwise may not be thought about. (For example, while closed captioning was developed specifically for Deaf audiences, it’s a service that almost everyone has used at some point, whether at a crowded bar or in a room with a sleeping baby.)
- It ensures continued use of the product to customers that transition from non-disabled to disabled. (Keeping a customer is just as important as gaining a customer.)
- It lowers legal risk of civil rights and access lawsuits.
Now that you’ve read those other options, please read To hell with the business case by Matt May, which will help you understand why those other options generally don’t work.
Sometimes I find the best answer to “why should we be accessible?” is “why shouldn’t we?” and then shoot down the ridiculous answers I receive, most of which revolve around training expense and. the perceived number of disabled people in the world.
In other words, put the person saying we shouldn’t do it on the defensive, instead of being on the defensive yourself.
Additional resources on business value
- Why Designing for Accessibility is Simply Good Business by Digital Design Standards
- The Business Value of Integrating Accessible Technology into Business Organizations by Microsoft
- Why accessibility is good for business (according to my mechanic) by Nicolas Steenhout (link temporarily broken, please be patient)
- The disabled community is the world’s third-largest economic power by Christina Mallon at Quartz at Work
- Understanding the cost of not being accessible by Karl Groves