I often hear the argument that making something accessible for blind people is not worth it, because there aren’t many blind people using it. My argument usually is that if it was accessible, you would have more blind people taking advantage of it. It is even more difficult when we don’t just make something accessible by fulfilling the minimum necessary requirement, but making the environment truly inclusive to blind people, where they don’t only get information, but they can enjoy something just like sighted people do. Often, this can cost much more time and money.
In this article I would like to show you why inclusion is worth it, and how it can benefit many other clients, not only blind people. I am sure you have heard the arguments that accessibility is the law and it is our social and moral responsibility. This is true, but I would like to show you that it actually makes business sense.
According to the World Health Organization, currently there are 39 million completely blind people around the world.
Let’s look at what is 39 million people:
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The number of people who speak Polish as their native tongue
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The number of people who live in Ukraine
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The number of people who live in California
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The number of people who live in Sao Paulo and Mexico City together
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The number of people who live with HIV
This means, one out of 200 people, or 0.5 percent of the population. Depending on where you live, you may say that this doesn’t sound right, you don’t meet that many blind people. This is correct. The density of blind people will largely depend on two factors, healthcare and accessibility. There are parts of the world where healthcare and eyecare is not widely available, thus there will be more blind people. Then there are areas where public transportation and walkable roads are not available, and it will make it much harder for blind people to get around. The other extreme is in big cities where there are schools and associations of blind people, good public transportation, accessible shopping and entertainment. You may find that there are more than one out of 200 people are blind who walk the streets in those areas.
Depending on what is the situation around your business, you may have different feelings about spending time and money to make the environment inclusive for blind people. When we say that one out of five people has a disability, it is easy to understand that making the environment inclusive makes business sense. But when it is a half percent, this argument may not work that well. However, there is much more to it, and what you make accessible or inclusive for blind people may benefit others, or enhance the experience overall regardless of eyesight.
Accessibility and inclusion
Let’s look into the difference between accessibility and inclusion, because these are two different things, inclusion being the more thorough of the two.
Accessibility means that people have the information they need, or the ability to use features with their assistive technologies.
Inclusion is much more, it is not just the minimum requirement, but the ability to take full advantage of services.
Let’s look at a couple of examples.
A museum is accessible if you can read about it on the web site, you can check the opening hours, by using a screen reader. You can walk through the exhibit, and learn about the artifacts either by listening to descriptions with an audio guide, or read it in braille.
But if you want a truly inclusive experience, you will have to make sure that there is transportation to the museum, if there is an admission fee you can pay using an accessible solution, you understand what and where you will find, and you can touch the exhibited artifacts.
A hotel is accessible if you can use an accessible app to make a reservation, there is braille or tactile large print in the elevators and by the room doors, and you can get an electronic receipt. There is more to it, but these are the most important features.
A hotel, however, can be inclusive if there is a way to get to it using public transportation or a shuttle, the room keys are marked or there is an accessible electronic key, you know how to operate the coffee machine, you know which is the decaf coffee, you can identify the snacks in the minibar, or you know which is the body wash and the shampoo in the bathroom. Again, just to list a few things, there is also much more to it.
As you can tell from these examples, making the physical environment accessible for blind people can be quite involved. But what’s in it for you as a service provider?
Loyal customer base
Unfortunately until all places will be fully inclusive, blind people will have to make a choice which service they will use, which web site they will shop from, where do they make their reservations, where do they spend their vacation. And the deciding factor often times will come down to accessibility. You can not only capture a segment of the market, but by providing inclusive solutions you will be able to keep that segment, let’s face it, often for the lack of competition. It is not only the loyalty that you can count on but the word of mouth to spread the news. There are many forums and platforms to discuss the accessibility of goods and services, and these are the places where people will recommend what worked out for them, so others don’t have to take chances.
Family and friends
Let’s continue with the hotel and museum examples. People often schedule programs together, like a family trip, a friends outing, a class trip, etc. Unless it is an organization for blind people, the majority of the people will be sighted. However, in order to create an inclusive experience for all, they all have to choose the activities that is also inclusive for a blind person. Thus, all of a sudden you are providing a service for more people based on a decision to ensure accessibility for the blind person in the group.
What’s necessary for one can be useful for others
In many instances, touch tours are reserved for blind people. While it is necessary for them, it can be an unusual new sensory experience for all. There is research showing for example that children enjoy interacting with artifacts by touch when it is available.
Another example would be an audio guide. While this maybe the only way blind people can follow a tour, it can also be useful for people with other reading disabilities, such as dyslexia, which impacts a much bigger portion of the population.
Inclusive brand image
When providing services to people being inclusive to all disabilities, it shows a different mindset. Even if some people will not need a particular accommodation, it will showcase your organization as inclusive, which cares for all people.
Improved user experience
Accessibility and good user experience walk hand in hand. When you improve one, the other is going to be improved. If you examine a product or service from the perspective of several disabilities and make the necessary enhancement for all people, by default you will have improved the usability, and probably do a more thorough quality assurance test.
Long-term benefits
As the population is aging, inevitably there will be more and more people who are visually impaired or blind. Ultimately the products and services you create today will serve more people.
Conclusion
Going back to the statistics at the beginning of the article, only 0.5 percent of the worlds population is completely blind. As you can tell from the above examples, making products and services accessible for blind people is not only the right thing to do, but when it is done well, it can change the bottom line for your organization, and it does not only make this world a more inclusive place, but it also makes good business sense.
