Some people are colorblind; others are missing a finger or two. Your website actually needs to take this into account. If it doesn’t follow the rules of universal design, you’ll be penalized by both your customers and Google and, in the worst case, by the law.
You probably know something about who uses your website, but you never know everything. You don't know if they, permanently or temporarily, have impaired vision, mobility, hearing, motor skills or cognition. But what you should know is that all of these things affect how they use your website, both on desktop and mobile. And how they don't use it. Because if it's not adapted to users' needs, they won't use it.
The surest, indeed the legally required, way to avoid potential customers dropping out because they can't use your website is to make sure it complies with accessibility rules.
Google Accessibility
Universal design should be included from the start of the UX process and be a common thread throughout the design phase. That way you get a rock-solid solution that doesn't exclude anyone. Not even Google's search engines.
Accessibility and search engine optimization (SEO) go hand in hand. In short, Google penalizes Google that aren’t accessible to everyone. This meansyourisk being relegated to the depths of obscurity if your website isn’t up to par—so far down in the search results that no one will ever scroll down to find you.
Unfortunately, it's common to hear things like "our customers don't need universal design. We're nice, but not that nice".
But if you don't take people's permanent and temporary disabilities into account, whether visible or invisible, you'll be penalized: You risk fewer conversions, you may lose loyal customers and the chance of being discovered by new customers decreases. It's simply bad business.
And that's illegal.
Don't become a lawbreaker
Universal design is required by law. It applies to both private and public companies. The law is enforced by the Norwegian Agency for Universal Design of ICT (UUTIL), which in extreme cases can impose daily fines. They have done this for both NAV and SAS. Here you can read more about the legislation, the uutilsynet and what universal design is all about.
This is a rapidly evolving field, and it’s easy to fall behind. At AG, we’re constantly working to stay ahead of the curve for our clients. Did you know, for example, that new universal design regulations have been introduced that all public entitiesmustfollow and all private entitiesshouldfollow starting February 1, 2023? We are currently working on updating our own website to make it as accessible as possible.