Why is Accessibility in Business Important?

The white tipped cane is a common symbol for blindness

The wheelchair or handicap symbol

Since the beginning of time, we’ve traded, bought, or bartered for our products.

Fast forward thousands of years and now business has transformed into a multi-faceted necessity of life.

Everyone does business. The issue is that not all businesses are accessible to those with disabilities.

““According to the CDC, approximately 61 million individuals in the U.S are living with some form of a disability.”” -STANLEY Access Technologies

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act website compliance research, “A 2021 survey conducted by Top Design Firms revealed that 28% of small businesses do not have a website, although 44% of those surveyed said that they plan to create one.” Despite the fact that this article only pertains to small businesses, this statistic is problematic for many reasons. Businesses lose out on millions of dollars in revenue due to inaccessibility of websites or apps.

Another challenge business owners face is on site accessibility. Many businesses lack proper handicap entrances, although this is slowly changing thanks to ADA. There are several categories that the ADA compliance benefits. Some of them aren’t even disabled, but compliance can benefit everyone. According to STANLEY Access Technologies, “There are many people who benefit from touchless automatic doors, including:

• People recovering from an injury

• Elderly individuals with mobility limitations

• Parents with strollers and small children

• Shoppers with their arms full of packages”.

Another challenge in the plethora of disability access in the business world is the lack of proper Braille signage. Braille is a tactile formation of dots to mean different letters and numbers. This may seem confusing for sighted individuals, but it is essential for anyone with low vision or blindness. Braille signage should be placed on bathroom labels, general room signage, and many other items. Offering a Braille restaurant menu will create a much more inclusive experience for customers with limited or no vision.

To end, the world of business is ever evolving, and therefore we as consumers and business owners must evolve with it. Failure to evolve could have grave consequences. However, throughout this post and below are some links to articles with valuable data and information to help improve the business’s accessibility level.

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Sources:

Think Your Business Is Too Small To Worry About Website Accessibility?

8 Reasons Why ADA Compliance Helps Business | STANLEY Access Technologies