One in four people in the UK have a disability. That is 25% of your potential addressable market.
Many businesses treat accessibility as a niche compliance issue, designing for what they perceive as “the margins of society.” This is a fundamental strategic and moral error. The commercial gains from building an inclusive digital experience are significant and obvious. But more importantly, we should design inclusively because the contrary would be dismissive of real user needs.
Good accessibility directly improves usability for all customers.
A perception of inclusive design may be that it would not look “as good” or that it would mean breaking brand guidelines. But we know that there are universal benefits to inclusivity.
For example, people with dyslexia may struggle to read long passages of copy that are in all caps. This is because when we read, we don’t usually look at each letter in a sentence but rather the shape of the words. This is more difficult when copy is in ALL CAPS because the height of every letter is identical, resulting in words that form more rectangular shapes. This forces people to read letter by letter, reducing how quickly they can read a passage of text.
The switch to using sentence case is easy and improves readability for all users. This is one simple example, but principles like these create universal upgrades, improving the quality of the entire digital estate for everyone.
Frameworks like the FCA’s Consumer Duty now mandate “good outcomes” for all customers. This places a new level of scrutiny on digital experiences. A robust accessibility programme is a key component of meeting these regulatory and risk management requirements, requiring brands to think about vulnerable customers and those with access needs.
We have also seen that the research process itself drives internal and external change. It is easy to read about a perceived issue, but when faced with evidence—for example, highlight reels of real people struggling with a service—this creates powerful buy-in. This evidence-based empathy is more effective than imagined issues when it comes to shifting an organisation’s approach. Accessibility becomes a strategic priority, not just a line item.
Building an inclusive digital experience unlocks a significant market opportunity, delivers a superior product for all users, and creates a more resilient business.