Guest Post: How an Accessible Website Can Help You Connect with More Customers

I am happy to have Marcus Lansky guest post for me today. Here is a little bit about him before we get into his fantastic article:

Born with a severe spinal condition, Marcus Lansky took the challenge to be able to walk again. With the will and aid of numerous individuals from the medical field and a whole lot of cheerleaders, he was able to take his first steps and take on the world. He then created his site, Abilitator (abilitator.biz), as a way to reach out to those who are disabled and show them that becoming an entrepreneur is a goal they too can achieve.

How an Accessible Website Can Help You Connect with More Customers

As a business owner, you may already know how important engaging online content can be when it comes to attracting customers. If that content is not accessible to all potential customers, however, you could be missing out on many business opportunities, such as potential work from clients who are living with hearing impairments. If you want to learn more about how creating accessible content can be good for your business, read these tips.

Adding Accessibility Features Can Be Simple

Before you learn how accessibility features can boost your business, you need to know that making your website more accessible for those with hearing impairments doesn’t have to be complicated. If you want to keep things as simple as possible, you can use freelancing sites to hire a web developer who has experience with web accessibility and captioning requirements. Then you won’t even have to think about which technologies and tools are needed to connect with customers who are living with disabilities. Plus, by hiring freelancers for niche projects like this, you can avoid unnecessary training and salary expenses. If you prefer to make your own changes, you can research online tools that make captioning your online content less of a hassle. As an added bonus for your budget, these tools are free to use.

Focusing on Inclusivity Can Boost Profits

If your website does not have accommodations for those with hearing impairments, you could be missing out on a pretty significant segment of online shoppers. In fact, current statistics estimate that over 1 million Americans are living with functional deafness, and another 50 million people in this country experience some other degree of hearing impairment on a regular basis. Those are 51 million potential shoppers who could end up clicking away from your website if it does not include at least some basic accessibility features. So, if you want to boost your sales, put some time and effort into making your website and online content more inclusive. With more folks shopping via mobile devices, adding captions can also increase your sales in other ways, as captions make it easier to view content and shop from anywhere and at any time.

Ensuring Accessibility Can Prevent Lawsuits

While adding accessibility features to your website can result in bigger profits for your business, failing to do so could result in costly legal problems. That’s because, in addition to requiring physical offices and storefronts to be accessible, ADA requirements also cover online content for most businesses. If your business has more than 15 employees, you are legally required to include reasonable accommodations that will allow online users with disabilities to access and use your website. The specifics of these requirements can be a bit murky, but your safest bet is to make sure that online content is user-friendly for those with hearing and visual impairments.

Creating Inclusive Content Can Attract Loyal Customers

If you want to attract loyal customers, inclusivity is essential. Consumers are increasingly demanding that brands be inclusive with their online content and marketing campaign, and this includes tailoring content to people with hearing impairments and other disabilities. Still, many small businesses and brands make the mistake of thinking that inclusivity is too expensive and too complicated. In reality, boosting your brand’s inclusiveness doesn’t have to require any additional cost or effort on your part. Just make it a point to include consumers who are living with disabilities in your overall marketing, operations, and sales strategies to keep things simple. Then, you should have no problems connecting with this underserved segment of consumers.

The main purpose of having a business website is to connect with more customers and potential clients. So make sure that your online content is accessible for more internet users so you can attract more business, loyalty, and respect for your brand.

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