Accessibility Statistics
The Numbers Behind Web Accessibility
Your organization’s website could be at risk without you realizing it. You are not alone. Learn about the latest ADA statistics to gain insight into the way digital marketing has responded to the needs of individuals with disabilities.Did you know that 70% of UK websites are not compliant with accessibility laws? With nearly 12 million people with disabilities in the United Kingdom, this is a big problem. And it’s not just a problem in the UK. Globally, around 10% of the world’s population (650 million people) live with a disability. As life expectancy increase, this number is also expected to grow.Looking at numbers a little closer to home, there were nearly 56.7 million Americans with a disability in 2015. That’s 19% of the population, or nearly 1 in 5 people. Between 110 million and 190 million adults have significant functional difficulties.
How Do Disability Statistics Impact Your Website?
ADA FOR WEB will help you understand how the Increase in Disabilities affects your web presence, Increases Your Exposure to Liability and what you can do to prepare.
Be Accessible To All Users
So, What Do These ADA Statistics Mean for Your Website?
Have you ever tried to navigate a website that is difficult to use, hard to read, or frustrating to navigate?
It’s infuriating, right?For those with disabilities, this is what life is like when trying to use a shockingly high number of websites. It’s no secret that the Internet is a staple in our everyday lives. It’s our number one source of information. We use it to pay bills, catch up on news, watch TV, do our banking, apply for loans, shop for groceries and more. And, just like a business’s physical locations being required to comply with physical accessibility laws, so too must their websites. But frustratingly, most don’t.
The Numbers on Federal Websites
Many of the websites we rely on to access information, including services from the federal government, aren’t meeting the needs of those with disabilities – the largest minority in the country.92% of the most popular federal websites fail to meet basic standards for accessibility, says a study from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. Not being able to navigate these websites means individuals with a disability cannot get the information they need or perform the tasks required to live their daily lives. And this hindrance isn’t just annoying, it’s also illegal.
Legal Factors
If your website contains functions that must be performed, both users with and without disabilities must be able to do so. Presenting barriers to users with disabilities is considered unlawful discrimination.According to the Equality Act of 2010, having an inaccessible website is breaking the law. Breaking this law means exposing your business to fines and possible lawsuits.
To learn more about the risks associated with having a non-compliant website, you can reach out to ADA FOR WEB Solutions. Our team has done extensive research into ADA Statistics. We know the law and we have the numbers. Get the facts today before it’s too late.
Give us a call at 949-328-1812 or email us at support@adaforweb.com for an accessibility audit of your website.
Don’t Wait – Act Now!
Not only is it the law to create an accessible website, it’s just good business. Let’s look at the numbers.
We’ve already mentioned that 1 in 5 individuals in this country have some sort of disability, which means 1 in 5 people visiting your website could have a hard time navigating it.
Disability Statistics in the United States
Here’s a more specific look at the number of people in the United States who could find their way to your website and who also live with various disabilities:If your organization is a governmental institution, a college or university, or a public school, you should know that federal law (Section 508) requires that your website meets web accessibility standards. Our team of web accessibility consultants can help you upgrade your website to meet these standards.
As of 2016, an estimated 3.8 million people aged 21 to 64 years were blind or had serious difficulty seeing, even when wearing glasses
Approximately 15% of American adults (37.5 million) aged 18 and over report some trouble hearing
The number of people living with cognitive disabilities in the United States is equal to twice the population of New York City.
Types of Disabilities and Populations
In 1998, Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, requiring federal agencies to allow their electronic and information technology (EIT) to be accessible to people with disabilities. Section 508 applies to all federal agencies when they procure, develop, maintain, or use electronic information technology, such as computer software, phone systems and websites. Additionally, under this law, agencies are required to provide disabled employees and members of the public equal access to information that would be available to others. The U.S. Access Board issues these standards and continuously updates and revises them to match changes in technology, as well as to unify WCAG 2.1 guidelines.
Hearing Difficulty: 316,450,569
Vision Difficulty: 316,450,569
Cognitive Difficulty: 296,658,475
Ambulatory Difficulty: 296,658,475
Self-Care Difficulty: 296,658,475
Independent Living Difficulty: 242,958,638
Lack of Compliance is Considered Discrimination
Given these numbers, if your website is not accessible to those with disabilities, you are leaving out a significant portion of the population. And when these users can’t easily access your website, they will go somewhere else, even if it means paying more for a service or product.You know that discrimination against people with disabilities is against the law, but business owners often do not consider what this means for their websites, or their bottom-line.As an example: some of the 3.8 million people mentioned above with visual impairments may use a screen reader to consume text in the HTML code of web pages, to translate it into audible speech. If text is not embedded in image properties (using alt tags), this could render the content inaccessible to visually impaired users, violating the the Equality Act of 2010.
What You Can Do
If this sounds confusing, don’t worry! Our team is here to do the heavy lifting for you. By reaching out to a company that focuses on web accessibility, like ADA FOR WEB Solutions, you can make sure your website doesn’t discriminate, follows the law and reaches as many people as possible. Our goal is to help our clients reach a wider audience and connect with each visitor.
We don’t want anyone leaving a website because a disability prevents them from reading it. We are experts in creating websites that comply with WCAG 2.1 AA (Web Content Accessibility Standards) and Section 508 standards and we want to help pass on this passion and our expertise, to our clients. The numbers don’t lie. There are people out there that need your website to meet their specific needs – don’t leave them out.
Whether you’re just starting the web design process, or you have a well-established site that needs some updates, give us a call. We are passionate about websites, people and accessibility and we’re ready to get to work for you.
