Customer Experience For People With Disabilities

WHAT EVERY MARKETER NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT INCLUSIVE DIGITAL MARKETING

1

SUMMARY

¹ “Disability Statistics: Fact & Statistics on Disabilities & Disability Issues”, Disabled World

² Americans with Disabilities: 2010, United States Census Bureau³ Creating Value Through Disability, The Return on Disability

Group

NORTH AMERICAThere are over 63 million people with disabilities living in North America. That’s more than the entire population of California and Florida.

As the continent’s largest minority group¹, people with disabilities control over $200 billion in spending², yet this segment is mostly disregarded by marketers.

The truth of the matter is that only 5% of the largest North American companies are making measurable efforts to connect with consumers with disabilities.

The companies that do make these efforts are outperforming their competitors in long-term stock prices³.

In an era where the customer is king, marketers cannot afford to sideline anyone. On the contrary, marketers should be making every effort to ensure that their customers with disabilities are getting a high standard of service.

2

Today’s consumers with disabilities fully participate in society. They are employers and employees, homeowners and car owners, spouses and parents, students and retirees. They are working, commuting, banking, shopping, vacationing, attending school, paying their bills and accessing a complete range of services in their communities.

MONEY TALKS:The Disability-Driven Spending Power

4 “Customers with Disabilities Mean Business”, U.S. Department of Justice5 “Towards an Accessible Future: Ontario Innovators in Accessibility and Universal Design”, MaRS

2

The fact is, over 63 million North Americans have disabilities, and their buying power is in the hundreds of billions of dollars. As a comparison, this is more than quadruple the buying power of tweens4.

Did you know that almost half of all people with disabilities make the buying decisions for their households5? In addition to this core market, people with disabilities have family and friends, all of whom may be influenced by disability-related concerns in their spending decisions. Together, this adds up to a full 53% of the global consumer marketplace6.

The Martin Prosperity Institute reports that as our society continues to become more inclusive and accessible, people with

6 Creating Value Through Disability, The Return on Disability Group7 “Releasing Constraints: Projecting the Economic Impacts of Increased Accessibility in Ontario”, Martin Prosperity Institute

disabilities are becoming better educated and earning higher incomes7. This is leading to even more spending cash. That’s good news for business.

Unquestionably, the Internet has led to numerous opportunities for people with disabilities – when they are able to access it, that is. Consider where people with disabilities, their families and their friends could be giving their business if their online needs were better met.

53% OF GLOBAL CONSUMER MARKETPLACE IS TOUCHED BY THE DISABILITY MARKET BUYING DECISIONS

WORLDWIDEBUYING POWER

The word “handicapped” arose because poverty-stricken people with disabilities would frequently beg on the streets with “cap in hand.”

Myth, of course, no matter what you’ve heard. It’s a mistake to assume that people with disabilities have little disposable income and aren’t worth courting as a market.

MYTH FACT

A recent report from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation pointed out that while mobile financial services are being marketed as convenient “anytime, anyplace” tools, and have great potential for customers with disabilities, they’re missing the mark if the technologies themselves are not accessible and usable by people with disabilities8.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

Online and mobile banking is quickly becoming the norm; people with disabilities, in particular, often embrace the option of conducting financial transactions from their own home or smartphone, rather than taking the time and effort required to visit a branch in person.

In general, people with disabilities report that their financial needs are less likely to be fully served by the banking system.

1. Financial Services

8 “Banking Status and Financial Behaviours of Adults with Disabilities”, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

3

w

Students today are well connected. They use smartphones, tablets, laptops or all three to access information. Like their peers, students with disabilities turn to the digital world to research their post-secondary education options. Colleges and universities that offer their prospective and current students with disabilities the tools they need to access the world wide web foster a more welcoming environment.

The number of university students with disabilities has doubled over the past two decades9, and more than one in three adults with disabilities has earned a college, bachelor’s or graduate degree10.

2. Higher Education

9 “Fast Facts: Students with Disabilities”, National Center for Education Statistics10 “Opening the Door: Reducing Barriers to Post-Secondary Education in Canada”, Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs,

Science and Technology11 “Fast Facts: Students with Disabilities”, National Center for Education Statistics

4

11%

OF POST-SECONDARY

STUDENTS IDENTIFY

THEMSELVES AS

HAVING A DISABILITY11

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

w

Travellers with disabilities are thought to use websites even more than travellers without disabilities to get information about their trips and book hotels, airlines or cruise lines. When disability services aren’t clearly highlighted on the website, these travellers will ultimately make their reservations elsewhere12.

North American adults with disabilities are spending an estimated $19 billion in travel per year. Considering that people with disabilities are unlikely to travel alone, the actual travel spending associated with them is thought to be at least twice this amount.

This number has risen by 27% over 13 years.

With aging and retiring baby boomers, the market of travellers with disabilities is expanding.

While the number of accessibility barriers in the travel and hospitality industry has been reduced over the past decade, a majority of adults with disabilities surveyed in 2015 reported major obstacles at some point in their recent travel experience. That extends to their online experience.

3. Travel and Tourism

12 “Disability Travel Generates $17.3 Billion in Annual Spending”, Open Doors Organization

5

IN TRAVEL PER YEAR

NORTH AMERICAN

ADULTS WITH

DISABILITIES ARE

SPENDING AN

ESTIMATED

$19BILLION

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

6

ENHANCING THE ONLINE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

13 “The Evidence”, Business Disability Forum

6

More than eight in 10 people with disabilities have chosen not to give their business to a service provider because of barriers; poor web accessibility is one reason cited. When customers have a frustrating experience with a brand’s website, this is one of the factors compelling them to walk away13.

When it comes to the physical world, businesses have made progress in accom-modating customers with disabilities. Brick-and-mortar stores have ramps and wide aisles. Banks provide talking ATMs for people with vision disabilities. Office buildings have accessible washrooms and automatic doors.

The solution to this problem is twofold. Ensuring that your website is accessible to assistive technology like screen readers, braille and braille embossers, or assistive listening devices allows customers using these kinds of devices to better navigate and engage with your website. Regularly auditing all your digital assets like websites or mobile apps limits any gaps in the customer experience.

But in the digital world, brand websites lack basic accessibility requirements like proper ALT tagging, zoom text or other WCAG guidelines – let alone assistive technology that customers who have trouble typing, moving a mouse or reading might need to engage online.

However, customers who have trouble typing, moving a mouse, scrolling, tapping or reading need assistive technology to make online purchases, conduct financial transactions or participate in promotions online. Offering your customers with disabilities assistive technology is the first step in creating a delightful experience with your brand in the omni-channel web.

DISREGARD A BUSINESS PROVIDER BECAUSE OF BARRIERS ENCOUNTERED

MORE THAN

8 IN10PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Customers today use websites for a range of buying activities, from researching products and services to making a purchase. A homepage often fosters a first and lasting impression of a brand. Websites are a critical piece in the consumer’s purchase decision, and marketers have a tremendous opportunity to delight customers with disabilities by offering a combination of technology and web accessibility to meet a diverse range of physical needs.

To tap into this segment, marketers must make greater efforts to enhance their digital customer experience across a number of touchpoints, especially web and mobile. An inclusive website is more than just following WCAG guidelines. It’s also giving customers the technology they need in order to do what they arrived at your website to do, despite any physical or sensory disabilities.

Marketers who invest in their customers with disabilities will reap the rewards: They’ll enjoy brand loyalty and repeat business from the largest minority group in the world.

Sign up for a FREE, no-obligation analysis of your website’s inclusive features.

To learn more about how you can provide a higher standard of service to people with disabilities, visit www.essentialaccessibility.com

Phone: (416) 364-2501

Toll Free: 1 (866) 333-3909

Fax: (416) 466-4452