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Fixing things that aren't broken

2 minutes read

If your world view is working for you, why risk fixing something that isn't broken?

If you don't think you have users who are disabled, why risk fiddling with the website?

If you think accessibility laws don't apply to you, why bother with compliance?

If you think the flashing banner gets you more sales, why would you drop it in favour of a simple static piece of text?

If you think the subtle grey text on white makes your design modern, why would you increase the contrast?

If you think the fancy text that disappears when you start typing in your forms is really cool, why would you add labels to your form fields?

Here's the thing.

Making all these changes seems counter-intuitive. When you add labels to your forms, increase the contrast, remove the in-your-face banner and start considering how you're impacted by accessibility laws, you're not making your website worse, less trendy or less modern. And you're not saying no to more sales.

If anything, you're going to attract even more customers:

  • People with visual impairments like low-vision or color blindness
  • People who have seizures like photosensitive epilepsy
  • People with mobility or motor issues
  • People with learning or cognitive impairments like dyslexia

Things may be broken already...and you just didn't know.

Did you enjoy this bite-sized message?

I send out short emails like this every day to help you gain a fresh perspective on accessibility and understand it without the jargon, so you can build more robust products that everyone can use, including people with disabilities.

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