Market impact

Creating an accessible digital experience has a much larger impact than most people realize.  

According to the World Health Organization's World Report on Disability, 15 percent of the world's population, or one billion people, experience some form of disability at one point in their lives. And this number will continue to increase as the population ages. 

In the US alone, the number of individuals 65 and over will double in the next 40 years. These individuals represent potential consumers and users of online applications for retail, healthcare, banking, and insurance services. Their spending potential is also sizable.

The National Organization on Disability estimates the annual discretionary spending of people with disabilities to be over USD200 billion. There has also been evidence that individuals who have a person with a disability as part of their family or close network will also make discretionary purchases based on their accessibility to those members. Therefore, globally, when you include family and close friends of disabled individuals, the market reaches 2.3 billion people who control an incremental USD7 trillion in annual disposable income, according to Forbes magazine.  

A market that some deem small enough not to have an impact is much larger than originally thought. Not including accessibility in your product or application strategy might leave many people and dollars on the table.

The potential consumer of your product application could be an individual with a disability or a family member. However, the design choices made with accessibility in mind have even broader implications.

Accessible design considerations often lead to improvements in general customer experience and loyalty, according to Entrepreneur magazine.  For customers with disabilities, such improvements are essential for equal access. However, accessibility provides options that are useful to all customers in various situations. 

For example, web accessibility also benefits people who:

• Use mobile phones, smartwatches, and other devices with small screens, similar to needing a magnified screen.
• Have degrading abilities such as mobility, hearing, or sight due to aging,
• Have “temporary disabilities” because of circumstances such as a broken arm, lost glasses, or minor surgery.
• Are in challenging situations such as bright, glaring sunlight or noisy environments where audio is difficult to hear.
• Have a slow internet connection or limited or expensive bandwidth, which is common in rural areas and some geographical regions.

There are also additional benefits from creating accessible applications such as SEO for websites or increased engagement in content. One case study published by 3PlayMedia demonstrated the direct impact of a media company, This American Life. When the company added transcripts to its podcasts, unique visitors to the This American Life website increased by over 7 percent as a result of the SEO implications of adding transcript content.

Web accessibility benefits more than a small percentage of the population. It has many farther-reaching implications for your overall consumer base and your employees.

Organizations that embrace corporate social responsibility are more successful. Those that value diversity and accessibility are more likely to increase consumer and employee loyalty, and this is directly related to their brand.

Current Global conducted a study where the participants had visual, hearing, cognitive, or speech disabilities and were asked about their media consumption habits and point of view on communication from companies today. 

Their findings showed that inaccessible communications have serious repercussions for brands. Eighty-one of the respondents reported a negative emotional response when a brand's communication was inaccessible, with 38 percent feeling frustrated. When brands are accessible, they reap a host of benefits, with 60 percent taking a positive brand action and 81 percent having a positive emotional response and feeling connected to the brand.

According to the CEO of Current Global, "If brands don't adjust their communications strategies to reach all audiences, they will miss out on forging long-lasting relationships with a large population of consumers."

An Adweek article on the importance of digital accessibility in the new economy states, "Digital accessibility will affect everything brands do going forward...There's a new economy emerging around tech-forward, contract-free customer service—from handheld shopping devices to QR codes to virtual marketing and sales events—and accessibility is critical in ensuring that all consumers and brands can take part."

Several other studies support the link between an inclusive, accessible approach to company success. The Bureau of Internet Accessibility reported the following statistics: 

• According to a 2020 survey by Top Design Firms, 64 percent of consumers are more likely to purchase a product if they believe that the brand values diversity and inclusion.
• In a 2021 McKinsey survey, The Rise of the Inclusive consumer, two out of three Americans said that their social values affect their purchasing decisions.
• In a study performed by Accenture, Getting to Equal, on average, "disability inclusion champions" that excelled in key areas of inclusivity reported 28 percent higher revenue and 30 percent higher economic profit margins than their less inclusive competitors.

Accessibility and inclusion are not just nice to have; they are essential to have a successful brand and business.

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