- Accessibility
Digital accessibility: driving value through inclusion
January 20 — 2025
In today's digital transformation landscape, accessibility acts as a catalyst for innovation and business growth. Beyond technical compliance, it presents an opportunity to create more inclusive and effective digital products that reach and serve a broader user base.
The statistics are compelling: according to Statistics Canada, 27% of Canadians aged 15 and over—approximately 8 million people—live with one or more limitations affecting their daily activities. This demographic reality presents organizations with a unique opportunity to broaden their reach while enhancing user experience for all.
While incorporating accessibility into digital strategy naturally raises questions about resources and investment, experience demonstrates that early integration into the development cycle maximizes benefits for both organizations and their users.
Accessibility is not just a matter of ethics
First and foremost, it is essential to properly understand what digital accessibility is. It involves creating digital products and services that everyone can use, regardless of their abilities or limitations. This includes people with visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive limitations, but also those facing temporary or situational constraints. This imperative becomes increasingly significant given current demographic shifts, as our aging population naturally increases accessibility needs.
“Disabilities can be temporary. Consider someone with an arm in a cast using their phone one-handed, or a person trying to read an interface in bright sunlight—both face accessibility challenges. These everyday scenarios remind us that accessibility impacts everyone.”
⏤ Dominic Labbé, Software developer & Digital accessibility expert at Mirego
'Essential for some, beneficial for all' This widely-cited accessibility principle perfectly captures why digital accessibility extends far beyond ethical or regulatory compliance. Features initially developed to address accessibility needs consistently enhance the experience for all users.
The subtitles use case
Originally developed for the hearing impaired, subtitles are now used by more than half of viewers with no hearing loss. An August 2023 YouGov study reveals that 63% of adults under 30 prefer watching content with subtitles on. Here's why:
40%
of users enable subtitles for better content comprehension, even in their native language.
40%
use them to better follow different accents and dialects.
33%
enable subtitles in noisy environments (public transit, public spaces, office).
Guided by international standards
To put this concept into practice, the international community developed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). These guidelines offer a practical framework built on four core principles:
The 4 core WCAG principles
Perceivable
Make content accessible to all by providing text alternatives for non-text elements such as images.
Operable
Ensure that interactive content is usable by everyone by facilitating keyboard navigation and avoiding navigation barriers.
Understandable
acilitate content comprehension by using clear language and explicit instructions about site functionality.
Robust
Ensure content is compatible with a variety of browsers and assistive technologies, ensuring its durability and interpretation by different tools.
These principles transform accessibility from an abstract concept into actionable guidelines that organizations can implement across their digital projects.
The true cost of inaccessibility
“Designing your product with accessibility in mind is more cost-effective than retrofitting it later. When organizations defer accessibility considerations, they aren't saving money - they're accumulating technical debt that will be costlier to resolve.”
⏤ Dominic Labbé, Software developer & Digital accessibility expert at Mirego
The regulatory landscape reinforces this economic reality. In Canada, the 2019 Accessible Canada Act (ACA) sets the goal of a barrier-free Canada by 2040. The Act applies to federally regulated organizations, including banking, telecommunications, and interprovincial transportation sectors. Ontario's more stringent regulations signal the potential direction for other provinces. This evolving legislative context demonstrates that investing in accessibility today serves as a safeguard against future compliance costs.
Integrating accessibility from the start: a winning approach
Accessibility integration in digital projects isn't a linear process tacked on at the end of development. Rather, it's a collaborative approach involving all stakeholders throughout the entire project lifecycle, from design to delivery.
- During the design phase, considerations include color contrasts, intuitive navigation, and alternative descriptions for visual elements.
- The development phase focuses on code structure and assistive technology compatibility.
- Finally, quality assurance ensures all features are genuinely accessible to every user.
This integrated approach offers a key advantage: it enables teams to identify and address accessibility challenges when they are easiest and most cost-effective to resolve. For instance, incorporating keyboard navigation during interface design is far more efficient than retrofitting it post-development. Similarly, implementing proper content structure from the beginning benefits both screen reader users and the broader user base.
✦
Digital accessibility stands as a powerful growth driver for innovative companies. Beyond rapidly evolving regulations, when integrated from project inception, it leads to more robust and universally accessible digital products. Success lies in seamlessly incorporating these practices into existing design and development processes, creating value for both organizations and their users.