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Why every designer should design accessible

Hello, designer? This is your wake up call! As far as we’re concerned, every designer should include accessibility in his/her standard skill set and also put it into practice. Let us explain to you why accessibility in your design should be mandatory instead of something “optional”.

31rd March 2021. Our latest newsletter linked to the wrong post ?, so sorry for that! This link will take you to “Blind people don’t visit my website”.

Everyone benefits from an accessible web

Yes, everyone! Even you, when you’re in a noisy environment trying your best to concentrate on that form you have to fill in. Read all about it in our last blog “For whom is web accessibility important?”.

An accessible design ensures better business

Apart from it being the right thing to do ethically and morally, designing accessible is also an advantage for your clients businesswise. But why is that? 

About 20% of the population has a disability, roughly 71% of them will leave a website immediately if it is not accessible. And as you might have read already, not only people with a disability will leave. Is the font on your clients website very hard to read for example? Then visitors will leave too. Knowing this, just figure out what your client is potentially missing out on… An accessible website ensures that those visitors stay on their website. Could you use some help designing accessible? No problem, just follow our course “Accessible design, the basics” to get you started. Well, we know what we’d do!

You can compete much better with an accessible design

Yes, everyone always wants to come up with something innovative and super sexy. Don’t get us wrong: of course you want that. But did you know that an accessible design can also be super innovative and beautiful? But if it’s not accessible and your competitor’s design is, your client might pick their design instead of yours. You lost your client! Thus, tackle accessibility in your design and create the extra convincing factor why a client should choose your accessible design and concept.

It can suddenly become a requirement in the client’s briefing

More and more clients are recognising the importance of an easily accessible website. As a result, complying with WCAG AA 2.1 may become a new requirement when you start a new project. Since many public authorities must have an accessible website, you will definitely see this in the briefing of these clients. It should be possible for everyone to take out insurance online, for example. Or to buy something online, right? That’s why we think that the shift from a non-accessible website to an accessible website will also increasingly take place for clients other than public authorities.

A developer, designer or copywriter can’t fix accessibility on their own

Apart from your clients, it’s also very fair to your colleagues to design accessible. Teamwork makes the dream work! An accessible website is not a one-man show. It’s an intricate tapestry of different disciplines, each of which does its utmost to take responsibility for accessibility. With his code, a developer cannot ‘fix’ a design that is not accessible, and vice versa. So: be a good colleague and do the right thing, make your design accessible! Follow our course “Accessible design, the basics“.

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