If you’re in the midst of a website refresh, don’t forget to put web accessibility on your list of priorities, writes DelCor’s Tom Jelen. Making your website accessible means designing it in a way that makes it usable for all people, whatever their hardware, software, language, location or ability.
Not only is accessibility strategically important, but it’s also the right thing to do, Jelen argued. According to the World Bank, 15 percent of the world’s population, or 1 billion people, have some form of disability, making them more likely to experience adverse socioeconomic outcomes.
“Your association can help lessen those adverse outcomes by ensuring that everyone can access your association’s digital experience,” Jelen said.
Striving for better web accessibility will also improve your content’s performance, since good SEO practices go hand in hand with accessibility.
“In the same way that persons with disabilities may require alternative text descriptions of images, easy-to-follow headings and clear link titles, search engine spiders (the computer programs that index the web) need that information, too,” Jelen said.
Beyond strategy, web accessibility may even be a legal requirement for your organization.
“There is a growing legal consensus that if the Title III requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) apply to your association, you may be required to make your website accessible,” Jelen said.
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