Web Accessibility: The Business Case Nobody Makes Properly

Accessibility is usually argued as a moral duty and ignored as a cost. The commercial argument is stronger - and it includes your legal exposure.

A person working at a computer workstation

Roughly one in four US adults lives with a disability. A site that excludes them excludes a market larger than most companies' entire target segment - and does so silently, because excluded users do not file a complaint, they leave.

Web accessibility lawsuits under the ADA have run in the thousands annually in the US for several years, concentrated on ecommerce and consumer services. Most settle. The cost of settling plus remediation reliably exceeds the cost of building it correctly, and defendants rarely get to argue that they did not know.

The fixes that cover most issues

  1. Text alternatives on meaningful images, and empty alt on decorative ones so screen readers skip them.
  2. Colour contrast at 4.5:1 for body text. This single fix also helps every user in daylight on a phone.
  3. Keyboard operability: every interactive element reachable and usable without a mouse, with a visible focus ring. Removing focus outlines for aesthetics is the most common self-inflicted failure.
  4. Form labels properly associated, and error messages that say what to do rather than that something is wrong.
  5. Semantic headings in order, which also gives search engines the document structure they need.

Why it converts better

Accessible sites are clearer sites: better contrast, larger targets, explicit labels, predictable navigation, fewer surprise interactions. Every one of those improves conversion for users with no disability at all - which is why teams that take accessibility seriously usually see their general usability metrics improve alongside. It is the reasoning behind how we scope and build web applications, and why the discovery phase comes first.

  • 4.5:1 minimum contrast for body text
  • 1 in 4 US adults with a disability
  • 0 reliance on overlay widgets

Frequently asked questions

Which standard should we target?

WCAG 2.2 level AA is the practical benchmark referenced by most regulation and settlement agreements. Level AAA is not expected for general commercial sites.

How much does remediation cost?

Far less during design than after launch. Retrofitting a complex application is genuinely expensive; building a marketing site accessibly from the start adds very little, mostly discipline around contrast, focus states and semantics.

More on this topic: Web & Product.

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