While we keep talking about accessibility, a lot of us may question why is it after all necessary. Why do we need to spend time and money to make our environments accessible?
Why make our websites, documents etc accessible? How many people with disabilities are there any way? How many of them are skilled to work in your organization or access your website? How many of them are financially independent to bring in business for you?
If these questions are stopping you from making an investment in making your environments accessible here are some things you should consider
- Blue ocean strategy: Across the world, people with various disabilities is on the rise. Add to it the number of people getting older and hence joining this group because of lower vision, issues with hearing, locomotion etc. Instead of fighting for the same set of people its time we expand the network of customers to bluer oceans.
- Positive environments: For many people the most common complaint is they get depressed for petty reasons. An inclusive environment ensures people get inspired in subtle ways and learn to appreciate the power of perseverance, of the passion in life.
- Word of Mouth marketing: By making your website accessible, you just do not win a person with disability. You win over every friend/family/acquaintance of that person.
- Brand Image: People who are open to recruit people with disabilities, get a positive brand image boost. The best example perhaps is Lemon Tree Hotel, India. They have been successful in reducing attrition, improving customer feedback and what more even their social brand image thanks to their policy of recruiting people with disability.
- Technical advantages: Making your website and various documents accessible ensures that you get an automatic inter-operability between browsers.
- RESPONSIBILITY: Its your responsibility to give them access and its right to have access. As simple and straight as that. No other reasons are necessary. Its their right to get access and its your responsibility to ensure equal access. For this simple reason – RESPONSIBILITY; you, I and everyone has got to do it. Make our environments both offline and online accessible. Now & TODAY.