Accessibility - Why this is important
Why Accessibility?
According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 1.3 billion people – or 16% of the global population – experience a significant disability today. In some countries this can be higher – for example in 2024 the US has an estimated 1 in 4 adults who have a disability.
And how do we define disabled?
In the US The American Disability Act simply defines a person with a disability as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity. In the UK the Equality Act 2010 defines a person with a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on their ability to do normal daily activities.
A Growing Population
The number of disabled people in the world is growing. This is a combination of a widespread increase in noncommunicable diseases, such as diabetes, stroke and dementia, and with people living longer.
Accessibility and Market Research
At the turn of the century, Government bodies and charities were the only clients requesting that surveys completed via the web were accessible. However, the shift towards the Environmental, Social and Governance framework (ESG) and the need for companies to be seen to more inclusive has resulted in a wider interest in accessibility.
The drive for inclusivity incorporates the products and services that companies sell; so, they are looking to test and obtain feedback on issues and potential improvements. This means that more disabled people are being encouraged to complete surveys which in turn means more bids requiring proven accessibility. There can’t be true representation in online surveys if people with disabilities are not tracked or expressly included. For example, product research generally undercounts & often falls short in meeting the needs of people with disabilities.
Askia's users should be striving for ‘inclusive design’ – where online surveys can be taken by anyone, regardless of their abilities.
Accessibility legislation is about to get tougher
To comply with the European Accessibilty Act (EAA), organisations must ensure that they are taking the necessary measures to make their online content and mobile applications accessible by following the WCAG principles of perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. The deadline for compliance is expected to be June 28, 2025.
Accessibility is also the right thing to do
Accessibility. . .
- allows an underrepresented audience greater access to surveys to express opinions
- helps avoid complaints from people with disabilities
- benefits usability for all
Accessibility for all
People without disabilities can benefit from accessible design particularly in limiting situations. For example:
- Reading captions for a video when in noisy or especially quiet environments
- Adjusting screen brightness in a dark or bright room or outside in the sunshine
- Using the keyboard to navigate a survey when the mouse is not working
- People with temporary disabilities such as a broken arm
What is an accessible survey?
An accessible survey is designed so that people with varying hearing, movement, sight, and cognitive abilities can complete it.
- An accessible survey doesn't require a mouse or keyboard to complete
- An accessible survey has the necessary text elements to enable respondents to successfully navigate and complete a survey using a screen reader with a text-to-speech (TTS) system
- An accessible survey enables respondents using screen magnifiers to successfully complete the survey
- An accessible survey can be completed using voice recognition software