In the past, web design was about making eye-catching and unique elements and bold and colorful designs. Today, however, simplicity, personalization, user-friendliness, and minimalism have taken center stage. In particular, accessibility and an all-inclusive design have become a hot topic.
This article will discuss the basics of inclusive web design and why you should consider it for your website.
Understanding Inclusive Web Design
At its core, an inclusive web design removes assumptions and bias from a website so that no users will feel excluded due to their demographic, impairment, or other permanent or temporary circumstances.
An inclusive website should provide the broadest possible group of people that can access your website from any platform of their choice, as well as understand, interact and easily navigate it from several different input styles.
So, what makes websites inclusive?
Having a delicate balance of UI and UX with useful features allows members of any age group, community, knowledge level, physical, emotional, and psychological ability to get what they need from your services.
Some inclusive design elements include scalable texts, navigation by keyboard, color contrast, and minimalistic visual effects. In most cases, web developers often use accessibility test checking to ensure that websites have an inclusive design and are compliant with relevant accessibility legislation.
Why Develop An Inclusive Website?
An inclusive web design is a powerful tool for your business. Here are several benefits of making your website inclusive and accessible.
- It Caters To A Bigger Market
Did you know that over a billion people live with a disability worldwide? That’s about 15% of the world’s population. Include an estimated population of over three billion friends and family who act on their emotional connection. The disability market touches over 73% of people globally, with a market estimated to be valued at over USD$10 trillion in disposable income.
That’s a big market to ignore! So, if you don’t make your website more inclusive, you’re not catering to a large portion of the world’s demographic and ultimately losing potential customers. Making your business website accessible and inclusive increases your lead generation opportunities and grows your customer base.
- It Provides A Better Overall User Experience
If you think making your website inclusive only helps cater to and improve the user experience of overlooked demographics, think again. It turns out that everyone can benefit from an inclusive design and find it more usable and valuable.
Some features first implemented into a website to make the site more accessible are also used by the general public and help improve their overall browsing experience.
For instance, a high contrast setting helps you see your mobile device screen during the day or in direct sunlight. Adding voice control has made it easier for people to search the web. Autocomplete prompts help speed up text entry.
- It Ensures Positive Branding
Humans like to feel included–whether you’re non-disabled, disabled, people of color, or members of a minority group.
When users visit your site and feel included, they will strongly connect with your business. This can give your brand the edge over competitors trying to appeal to just the general public.
Inclusive web design can create strong brand awareness and make the customer journey unique and memorable. This way, your brand will stick in their mind the next time they need your products or services.
By standing for inclusive branding and design, showing your diverse audience that you treat them equally and acknowledge their struggles, it won’t go unnoticed by your audience. Consumers are becoming more aware today and prefer brands that demonstrate an ethical, humanitarian, and sustainable culture.
- SEO Loves It
This one is really simple. As a part of your digital marketing efforts, you’re probably spending time and money to help your website rank higher on Google search results. And one of the best ways to make you look rankable to Google is to make your website more inclusive.
Read Also: 5 Essential Web Design Tips for Businesses
Google loves websites that offer inclusive and accessibility options. Plus, the increased customer satisfaction and improved user experience that comes with your accessibility and inclusive elements also help Google love your site more.
An inclusive and accessible website also helps lower your bounce rate. While there are other ways to help reduce your bounce rate, take note that usability and accessibility play a critical role.
- It Boosts Sales And Overall Revenue
Considering the above benefits, an inclusive web design is a great strategy that can help improve your business’s sales and revenue.
As mentioned above, a website that’s inclusive and accessible boosts your customer base, improves brand awareness, and helps your website rank higher for more visibility. All in all, it gives your audiences and leads the confidence that will ultimately convert them from web visitors to a paying customer, and, preferably, a repeat clientele.
- It’s The Right Thing To Do
Last but not the least, building an inclusive web design is the right thing to do.
People are disabled by society’s barriers, not by their condition. It can be caused by various things, from physical obstructions such as inaccessible restrooms to societal attitudes. And it is everyone’s role, including your company’s, to create a future of cultural acceptance and tolerance.
You can help make the world a better place for everyone by providing an inclusive website.
Takeaway
The world consists of people from various backgrounds and has different specific needs. With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic that caused more people to spend more time online, these needs are coming to light more than ever.
That said, inclusive web design ensures that no one gets left behind in this increasingly digital world. Catering to all people should never be seen as an added expense and project but as a way to better branding and overall bottom line. So, do a careful audit of your website or talk to a reliable web developer and see what you can do to improve the web browsing of demographics that are often overlooked.
