The next time you or someone on your team decides to deprioritise accessibility, it might be worth playing devil's advocate and a game of 20 questions. Here are some to get you started:
- Are you assuming your users don't have disabilities?
- Do you know what percentage of the population has some form of disability?
- Have you calculated the market share you're excluding?
- Would you close your physical store to wheelchair users?
- Are you willing to face potential legal consequences?
- Have you considered that accessibility benefits everyone, not just people with disabilities?
- Do you know that many accessibility improvements also boost SEO?
- Are you aware that accessible sites often have better usability for all users?
- Have you asked someone with a disability to test your product?
- Do you understand that accessibility is often easier to implement from the start?
- Are you factoring in the cost of retrofitting accessibility later?
- Have you ever watched someone with a disability struggle to use a website similar to yours?
- Have you considered how many elderly users you might be excluding?
- Do you know that mobile users often benefit from the same principles as accessibility?
- What would you say to a potential customer who can't complete a purchase because your site isn't accessible?
- Have you thought about the brand damage from being called out for inaccessibility?
- Would you tell someone with a disability to their face that they're not worth accommodating?
- How would you explain your decision to deprioritise accessibility to an investor or board member with a disability?
- Do you realise that many accessibility features can be implemented with minimal effort?
- Are you okay with potentially alienating employees who have disabilities or care about accessibility?
You don't have to answer all of them, or even most of them. There are no right answers either. But it's good to have one if you're thinking of bumping accessibility to your backlog.