Prestige Recruitment has always prided itself on being an open and inclusive company, but we can always do more and we know we should always strive to improve our services and culture. With this in mind , we decided to have a long hard look at our website in terms of accessibility as sometimes it can be overlooked by businesses and not being well informed about its importance is quite common.
We decided to audit our website and started to clear potential problems. After a general clean up and appraisal, we turned to a great AI solution called UserWay. UserWay creates advanced website accessibility solutions that help with ensuring ADA compliance, a great standard to follow. ADA compliance is short for the Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design. This means that all electronic information, technology and websites must be accessible to those with disabilities and in America, it is enforced by law. In the UK we have something similar but nowhere near as comprehensive called the Equality Act 2010. This protects all individuals from unfair treatment and promotes a fair and more equal society. Website owners are required to make ‘reasonable adjustments' to make their websites accessible to people with disabilities and whatever the laws are in different countries, we should be leading from a position of having basic respect for peoples right to equality and this is certainly the major driving force for us.
Everyone should be able to access and use your website successfully. Implementing standards of web accessibility is crucial for everyone no matter what their disability, they should be able to navigate your information freely and easily without obstacles or problems. So let's look at 6 Reasons for Making Your Website Accessible:
1- It Helps People
This is the simplest to start off with, yes, we can help people! The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) website explains that “About 15% of the world's population lives with some form of disability, of whom 2-4% experience significant difficulties in functioning.” That figure does not take into account temporary disabilities that can hit our lives suddenly from time to time, an arm break or an eye injury, can impede our use of technologies.
There are millions of people across the world who can be helped. Often these people need assistance to interact with websites and the internet. This is where people can benefit greatly from good website design and the right accessibility tools. We all know buildings need wheelchair ramps, so let's help and build accessible websites!
2- Help & Accessibility to All
Web accessibility is all about ensuring that the functionality and website content can be accessed by all regardless of physical barriers and disabilities. The website should also be easy to navigate for people with other forms of disabilities such as neurodiversity. For instance, our assessability menu system now has the ability to change the text to a Dyslexic friendly typeface, such simple things can really help.
3- Accessibility & Brand
Having an accessible website shows equality is important to your business, it demonstrates that you are inclusive and attentive to all your customers and clients. If equality is important to your brand then it needs to be in everything you do and starting with an accessible website is a great foundation. This demonstrates your commitment and will attract more like-minded clients, customers and partners who want to be part of a positive culture.
4- You Can Reach More People
Making your website accessible is a great business decision as well as a moral one, the more people that can use your website, the more your customer and client base will grow. It all boils down to simple numbers! If you need a business based motivation for investing and implementing this sort of solution then here it is. Inaccessible sites exclude around 15-20% of potential customers so the more people that can engage with your website, the more business you will have, it is as simple as that really!
5- Improve Your SEO
Need another business reason to implement this? Website accessibility goes deeper than making your website more usable for people with disabilities. It also improves your website SEO, making it more likely to be found in search engines. Google never reveals the exact details of how pages are ranked but we know making your site accessible is one of the best SEO practices you can invest in.
6- Positive Culture
When you go all-in on website accessibility, you are showcasing a positive brand image for your company. This can really be a great part of demonstrating your stance on equality. It also shines a light on your culture and can only make your company stronger and more appealing to deal with.
Conclusion
We have enjoyed our journey in making our website more accessible. At a very simple level, it's just nice to know you are helping people! With great tools available now like UserWay there is no real excuse not to do it. We know it is an ongoing commitment and we will continually audit our website and refine it.There is a great feeling of positivity having started our accessibility journey, it ties in with what we stand for as a company and we would wholeheartedly suggest this path to anyone.