All Access: Why Should I Care About Accessibility?

By Linda Roberts | Senior Member, and Lisa Pappas | Associate Fellow

This column shares information about accessibility requirements and techniques, and introduces standards and policies that might affect your products. If you have feedback, contact Linda Roberts at lerober1@yahoo.com.

Over the years, people have asked us why they should care about accessibility. It made us think. Here are a few reasons why you should care about accessibility:

People with disabilities are a large user group.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2006) in a survey taken in 2002, around 18% of Americans said that they had a disability. To further break this number down, this survey notes that 3.6% of the U.S. population have a sensory disability (hearing or visual), 8.2% have a mobility impairment, and 4.8% have a cognitive disorder. To put this number in perspective, the U.S. Department of Justice (2006) notes that this percentage of the U.S. population “is larger than the country’s largest ethnic, racial, or cultural minority group.” Knowing that a statistically a significant portion of end users might have a disability, software vendors are compelled to adopt design methods to ensure inclusive usability. Internet-based companies have faced public relations storms and litigation when their e-commerce sites excluded people with disabilities (for example, the lawsuit that was settled between Target Corporation and the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) [Smith]).

The number of people with disabilities is increasing.

As the population ages, issues such as macular degeneration, cataracts, arthritis, hearing loss, and other age-related ailments have increased the number of people with disabilities. The U.S Census Bureau (2006) says that “the chances of having a disability rise with age: 72 percent of people age 80 and older had disabilities.” These aging “Baby Boomers account for 48% of U.S. families with 45 million households, and spending power of over $2 Trillion” (Orestis). Organizations catering to older populations, such as retirement planning and senior living facilities, now strive to make their websites usable by these prospective customers.

Don’t assume that people with disabilities won’t use your product.

I have heard from a number of people that the reason why a product isn’t accessible is because they don’t think that people with disabilities would use it. Think again. As noted earlier, around 18% of Americans said that they had a disability. Of course, not all types of disabilities would prevent a person from using a computer product, but this report also notes that of people who are aged 15 to 64, 36% of people with a severe disability use a computer and 29% of the people used the Internet at home. They could be trying to use your product. The U.S. Department of Defense is promoting its computer/electronic accommodations program (CAP) to retrain wounded warriors in computer rather than infantry roles (see taniameireles2).

People with disabilities have spending power.

Don’t think that people with disabilities don’t travel, shop, eat out, and spend time with their family and friends. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2006), “among people with disabilities, more than half of those 21 to 64 years old had a job, more than 4-in-10 of those ages 15 to 64 used a computer at home and a quarter of those age 25 to 64 had a college degree.” According to the U.S Department of Justice (2006), the “large and growing market of people with disabilities has $175 billion in discretionary spending, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. $175 billion is more than four times the spending power of tweens (8-14 year-olds), a demographic sought after by businesses.” Wouldn’t you like to increase the number of users you have and get the revenue these extra users would bring? And users with disabilities tend to be brand loyal; when they find products and firms that accommodate their needs, they are reluctant to switch.

It is the right thing to do. Period.

People with disabilities should have the same access to goods and services as the rest of the population.

In a future column, we will move beyond the statistics and meet members of this large user group, people for whom assistive technologies have enabled their professional achievements.

References

Orestis, Chris. 2008. “The Silver Tsunami White Paper,” www.lifecarefunding.com/whitepapers/silvertsunamiwhitepaper.aspx.

Smith, Jared. 2008. “Target lawsuit settled.” Blog on Web Accessibility in Mind website. http://webaim.org/blog/target-lawsuit-settled/.

taniameireles2. 2012. “Wounded warrior embraces new normal, new employment—Part Three.” Warrior Care Blog, http://warriorcare.dodlive.mil/2012/03/29/wounded-warrior-embraces-new-normal-new-employment-%e2%80%93-part-three/.

United States Census Bureau. 2006. “More Than 50 Million Americans Report Some Level of Disability,” www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/aging_population/cb06-71.html.

U.S. Department of Justice. 2006. “Expanding Your Market: Customers With Disabilities Mean Business,” www.ada.gov/busstat.pdf.