By W.B. King
While there are numerous ways members interact with their credit unions, such as through mobile apps and social media portals, many members still prefer visiting a traditional website via a home computer or tablet. A new study from Contentsquare, The Digital Accessibility Handbook—Your Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Better Web UX for All, offers advice on maximizing the website experience for all members, including those with impairments.
The report found that 70% of digital content online is inaccessible to people with cognitive, visual or physical impairments. Noting that there are approximately one billion people worldwide impacted by an impairment, 80% of these disabilities are invisible.
“From color blindness and deafness to dyslexia and autism, there are tons of reasons why someone may struggle to access a website that doesn’t cater to their needs,” the report stated. “Two-thirds of e-commerce sites are not accessible and 70% of public service websites are not accessible.”
The report noted that one in 24 people are blind or visually impaired; one in 10 people have dyslexia; one in 12 men are color blind; and one in 11 people are 65 or older, a figure forecasted to be one in six by 2050.
“These numbers signify billions of people who are unable to shop for food or communicate with friends online, people who can’t easily find local restaurant opening times or book cinema tickets in advance,” the report continued. “Put simply, without ensuring digital accessibility for all, we’re preventing some people from enjoying the same internet-based magic as the rest of us, sometimes even at the most basic human level.”
Is it the Law?
The report also found that 71% of customers with accessibility needs will leave a website they find difficult to use. Eighty-two percent of customers will pay more money for the same item on a competitor’s website that is more accessible and 30% of a potential consumer base is lost if a website isn’t accessible to those with impairments.
“It doesn’t matter how hard you’ve worked, how creative your homepage is, or how much money you’ve put into that campaign; thousands of people in your audience will simply tune out if they can’t access your site,” the report noted. “And you’d better believe that’ll have a knock-on effect on your bottom line. So, for any brand looking to grow revenue in today’s competitive world, digital accessibility is an absolute necessity. What’s more, websites that comply with accessibility standards can enjoy improved rankings in Google.”
While the legality of having a website that meets accessibility needs changes from country to country, in the U.S. there are no specific laws that relate to the accessibility of commercial websites, but they are covered under the Americans Disability Act (ADA) Title III.
For consumers with visual impairments, they traverse a website using screen readers, which is text-to-speech software that reads out the content of a webpage. The screen reader will scan the site’s navigation, plus the headings within each page, to quickly find the right content. They also use a keyboard (hitting tab and enter to jump to active elements on a webpage) rather than a mouse and trackpad, the report explained.
“Adapting your site for the visually impaired is relatively straightforward, though it will require some time and resources. Firstly, it’ll be a case of updating your website’s Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) style guide to fix text and typography issues quickly,” the report shared. “Other accessibility must-haves may be longer-term projects (such as updating content and optimizing site structure), but the payoff will be worth it to ensure equal access for all.”
Contrast ratio is another important indicator, with the range falling between one and 21 (where one is the same color and 21 is black/white). “An accessible contrast ratio makes it easy for people with low vision, cataracts, glaucoma, and other sight conditions to interact with your website. Use a font that’s not contrasted enough, and you’ll be excluding one hell of a lot of people from your content,” the report noted, adding that text size, alignment, spacing and capitalization are also critical variables.
Embedded links that are colored, such as blue, aren’t accessible to color blind people. The report suggests increasing the font-weight or underlining the link. Similarly, color blind people can’t access graphs that use color to convey information.
Accessibility Gold Card
Consumers with hearing loss struggle with websites that feature videos or voice over content. Videos with captions, on average, generate a 12% increase in viewership, the report said.
“It’s not just deaf people who watch content without sound. When Instagram first launched videos, more than five million were shared within 24 hours – and 85% of people watched them without sound,” the report stated. “That’s people commuting on trains, out with friends, in public spaces, or who simply just prefer watching without sound. For whatever reason, it seems there’s a pretty large number of us watching videos in silence. So, let’s start making stuff accessible to everyone.”
Offering sign language options is also encouraged. “While subtitles and captions help make content inclusive for everyone, sign language is your accessibility gold card. Giving deaf people the option to either read along or follow an interpreter is a fantastic way to supercharge your customer experience.”
According to the World Health Organization, there are between 250,00 and 500,000 new cases of spinal cord injuries each year worldwide. These consumers need to navigate websites with physical limitations.
“For some, this requires specialist equipment to use the web – such as voice recognition software or specialist mouses – and for others, this means relying heavily on using a keyboard alone,” the report stated. “But while those with physical impairments may need their own tools to get onto the web initially, there are still things you can do to make your site more accessible for them when they’re there.”
For those consumers with cognitive impairments, such as memory loss, ADHD, autism or dyslexia, steps can be taken to make their website experience more informative and enjoyable.
“With heightened sensory awareness, people with autism and other cognitive impairments can become distracted by web pages that are cluttered. If you use multiple colors or have lots of different elements on each page, you might want to rethink your website design. Autistic people favor consistency and simplicity, which means using the same fonts, colors, and hierarchy throughout your site,” the report noted. “Luckily most companies use consistent branding across their website anyway, so it’ll likely be a case of ensuring the overall branding is accessible rather than having to redesign your site page by page.”