A quick follow up from yesterday's email about carrots and sticks.
In a business setting, neither the carrot nor the stick will work if it's all just theoretical. The business case for accessibility sounds good. You'll reach more users. You'll tap into a market of people with disabilities. You'll boost your SEO. You'll improve usability for everyone.
All that sounds good, in theory. But no one actually buys theory.
What businesses buy is medicine to cure a pain they have.
If you want to use the carrot, that's fine. But don't bother trying to sell the abstract benefits. Plead your case with the specific pain point your company is facing right now. Is support drowning in tickets about confusing navigation? Show how clear labels and logical focus order reduce those tickets. Did your last user research session reveal that people can't find anything on your site? Show how proper heading structure and landmarks solve that problem. Find the pain. Then show how accessibility solves it.
If you think the stick is more suited, great. But again, make it concrete. Don't talk about accessibility lawsuits happening to other companies in the abstract. Find out if your legal team has flagged any actual risk. Check if your industry has upcoming regulation deadlines. See if your biggest client is requiring VPAT documentation in their next renewal.
No one wants to eat an imaginary carrot just like no one will run away from a theoretical stick.
Make them real, give them life and you might get somewhere.