The importance of web accessibility, said better than we could

We talk about web accessibility a lot. We have written about why it matters for your business and what accessible content actually looks like. Since taking courses and gaining a better understanding of it, we can’t help but want to do better.

But sometimes the importance of web accessibility is captured in a single sentence better than a whole blog post could. Here are four that have stuck with us.

On who accessibility is really for

“When speaking of disabilities, the blind and their needs are most often used as an example. It is deceivingly simplistic since accessibility is something most of the population can benefit from.”
— Marcus Österberg, web developer and accessibility advocate

This one matters because it pushes back on the assumption that accessibility is a niche consideration for a small group of users. It’s not. Accessibility benefits people on slow connections, people using their phone in bright sunlight, people who are tired, people who are aging, people who are temporarily injured. The importance of web accessibility is not that it helps some people, it’s that it helps most people.

On potential

“Accessibility allows us to tap into everyone’s potential.”
— Debra Ruh, global disability inclusion strategist

Short. Accurate. When a website is inaccessible, it is not just an inconvenience, it’s a door that stays closed. And the potential on the other side of that door — as customers, as contributors, as community — does not disappear. It just goes somewhere else.

On doing your job a little better

“The one argument for accessibility that doesn’t get made nearly often enough is how extraordinarily better it makes some people’s lives. How many opportunities do we have to dramatically improve people’s lives just by doing our job a little better?”
— Steve Krug, author of Don’t Make Me Think

Steve Krug wrote one of the most-read books in web usability, and this quote is the one we keep coming back to. The importance of web accessibility is not abstract. It is measurable in the daily experience of real people who can or cannot use the internet to do the things everyone else takes for granted. We get to make that better just by being more thoughtful about how we build. That is a remarkable opportunity.

On what the web was always meant to be

“The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.”
— Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web

The person who built the thing said from the start that universal access was not a feature. It was the point. The W3C — the organization Berners-Lee founded — has been working to make that vision real ever since through global accessibility standards that set the baseline for how the web should work for everyone.

We are in the business of building websites that work for your business, for your brand, and for every person who lands on your page.

If you want to talk about what that looks like in practice, you know where to find us.