More Than Looks: How Professional Website Design Supports Accessibility
It’s no secret that well-designed websites are essential to successful marketing. Your website is often your first, and arguably most critical, opportunity for a positive brand impression. Well-planned and beautifully designed websites create positive and professional online experiences that, in turn, build credibility and trust with customers – all necessary steps towards brandy loyalty, conversion, and growth.
User experience should be more than just a design consideration – it’s an essential part of industry best practices that ensure your website is also accessible. According to the World Health Organization, over 1 billion people globally live with a disability. That means any digital platform that isn’t designed to be inclusive is effectively inaccessible to a significant portion of potential customers and users. While often overlooked, integrating accessibility into UX (user experience) and UI (user interface) design is no longer optional. In Canada, many provinces, such as Manitoba, have enacted laws and regulations to improve accessibility at service points across the board, including those online.
Although, everyone can benefit from the implementation of accessible design best practices. Accessible websites load faster, rank better on search engines, and deliver a more seamless mobile experience – features that generally enhance user experience. These practices ensure platforms cater to a diverse user base, dramatically increasing reach and building a deep brand loyalty most brands can only dream of.
A lack of web accessibility can lead to litigation where you’re legally responsible to make websites accessible. Domino’s Pizza, following a legal challenge for not meeting accessible regulations (Robles v. Domino’s Pizza), made significant upgrades to its website and mobile app accessibility, including screen reader compatibility and easier keyboard navigation. The accessibility changes led to a better online ordering experience for all users, even boosting their brand loyalty – and reinforces the importance of including accessibility compliance in all digital design projects from the start.
Professional digital marketing firms are uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between accessibility and compliance, user behaviour and design, marketing, and business goals. At VDI, it’s part of our approach to adhere to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines set forth by the W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative, and we prioritize accessibility in all our web designs. We use rigorous accessibility audits, inclusive design systems, and accessible content strategies, to ensure our websites meet industry standards, while still optimizing other important metrics such as SEO, engagement, and conversion.
Browse our latest work in digital accessibility and inclusive design integration – and reach out to get in touch for a quote. We’d love to hear from you to start the discussion on how we can help increase your reach and user experience.