Harness accessibility for business growth with these 3 tips

UK businesses lose £17.1 billion a year by ignoring the digital needs of customers with disabilities, research shows. The Click-Away Pound Survey also found that 69% of people with access needs will click away from inaccessible websites, taking their business with them.

It is “entirely understandable”, says accessibility expert (and proud member of the FreeAgent community) Dave Davies. “When a customer can’t access your website, they usually don’t complain - they’ll just leave and go elsewhere, usually to your accessible competitor. This isn’t a niche problem - and it does present a clear competitive advantage for you.”

Dave became interested in accessibility after seeing friends and family struggle with inaccessible sites. “A relative needed to update their broadband account details online, but the CAPTCHA field on the form kept expiring before they could type the code,” he says.

“They use a screen magnifier, so typing took a little longer than average. What should have been a five-minute job turned into repeated frustration, and in the end, they had to ask me to do the task for them. It took away their independence, and they switched providers soon after.”

Dave now runs a thriving accessibility consulting business that specialises in e-commerce. He advises companies on how they can remove accessibility barriers, so both they and their customers can benefit.

The opportunity for businesses is growing. As the UK’s population ages, more people are likely to need assistive technology tools, such as screen readers, speech recognition software or magnifiers. The over-50s are not only the country’s fastest-growing customer base, it’s also the group with the most cash to spend. 

“If your site isn’t accessible, you risk shutting out a group that has money to spend today and will make up an even larger share of your customer base tomorrow,” says Dave. 

Here are Dave’s three top fixes to get your website ready.

1. Check your site’s keyboard navigation

Many of these potential customers are using assistive technologies such as screen readers, which help people with visual impairments by reading digital content aloud or converting it to braille output, or subtitles and transcripts for video and audio content for those with hearing problems. Therefore an accessible site should be easy to navigate by keyboard only. 

If you put your mouse aside and go through your main user journeys, you can use the tab, shift+tab, enter and space bar keys to navigate. If you find you can’t complete the tasks you expect your customers to do, it’s likely they can’t either! But don’t worry, Dave has some sage advice if you do find your site to be inaccessible by keyboard.

“If you’re using a platform like Shopify or WordPress, start by checking your theme or template,” he says. Shopify’s pre-made themes are designed to be accessible and they have information on how to stay accessible when you customise them. You can filter WordPress themes by accessibility (find out how here).  

“If you’re working with a developer or agency, simply show them what you’ve found - and ask them to make sure that your key user journeys can be completed using only the keyboard. 

“If you’re building the site yourself, the A11Y Project has an excellent accessibility checklist that walks you through the essentials in plain language.” 

2. Check the colour contrast on your text and buttons

Colour contrast checking tools (like this one) will tell you if the colours you’re using in your site are easily readable. This isn’t just for the benefit of people with colour vision deficiencies, it also helps those reading in bright conditions, or from a screen with lower contrast and resolution for example. “If it’s hard to read against the background - especially on a phone outdoors - customers will struggle,” says Dave. “Clearer contrast makes everything more readable.”

3. Make sure your images are readable with alt text

Images are often used online to enhance user experience and provide further information, but people with impaired vision may be missing out on that crucial context. For people who use screen readers to navigate the online world, alternative text (alt text) describes both what is in those images and the context you’d like them to understand. It is an essential part of making content accessible. 

“It’s about making sure the customer gets the information they need at that point in their journey, so even if customers can’t see the image (or it doesn’t load), they still get the information they need,” explains Dave.

Google’s PageSpeed Insights will flag any images with missing alt text. Simply enter your site’s URL to see if any of the images you’ve used need to have alt text added. Once you know where to look, most website builders, such as Shopify, WordPress or Wix, make it straightforward to check and add alt text.

“If the image is decorative or purely for layout, you can safely leave the alt text empty so screen readers know to skip over it,” adds Dave. “For product or informational images, use short, plain-language descriptions that tell customers what they need to know.”

What next?

These three checks should only take a few minutes and will give you a good general idea of how accessible your site is today. They’re a fantastic way to begin your accessibility journey, says Dave, but the real opportunity lies in looking further ahead to the future. “Many business owners still see accessibility as a burden, so my goal is to shift that mindset from a compliance tickbox to a genuine business opportunity - that helps more customers buy, book, or sign up. Building in accessibility now means your website grows with your customers, rather than leaving them behind.”

Other ways to future-proof your business

Find out how you can use our management reports to see ahead with these guides to cashflow, profit and loss reports and performance benchmarking.