Yesterday, I was talking about "Buy now, Pay later" and how most high value things we own fit into this. Your college degree, your house or your car.
Someone pointed out that these are all material things and since not everyone can afford to buy these things out right, there's no other way to own them. True! I took out a loan for college (and paid it back right after graduating). The house I live in belongs to the bank. My car is the only thing I own out right.
Yes, I agree. We thankfully have a choice for these things.
Not so much for some of the more intangible things. Things like a good relationship with your significant other. Or a healthy mind and body. Financial independence. Freedom too.
For these things, the cost is non-negotiable and it's due 100% up front. You have to do the work before you can enjoy the benefits. Exercise, eat healthy, meditate, journal every day, set aside time out of your busy day to spend with your family. Put in the work to become financially independent and free.
You have no choice here.
And I don't think you have a choice with web accessibility either.
Building accessible websites isn't something you want to defer to "later." You can't ship an inaccessible product now and promise to fix it later because by the time "later" comes around, you've already excluded people. Screen reader users, people with vision impairments, folks navigating with keyboards because they can't use a mouse have already taken a hit.
The cost of accessibility really is due up front, just like those other intangible things. You build it in from the start or you pay a much higher price trying to add it later.
And this is where things go sideways.
With diet, exercise, financial freedom, good relationships and web accessibility, you have to do the work before you see results. And this is why most people never make it. The work requires effort. Lots and lots of effort upfront with little to show for it initially.
Plus, you can't stop even after you start seeing results. You still have to put in the effort. Every day. Forever.
So people never even start. And the ones that do, don't keep at it long enough to see their efforts pay off. They just quit.
That's the real shame.