Creating an online business (website, e-shop, or app) that meets accessibility standards like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and complies with laws such as the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and the new EU Accessibility Act isn’t just about doing the right thing. It also makes excellent business sense.
Ensuring your site is accessible to people with disabilities expands your reach to a vast, underserved market, boosts your brand’s reputation, and improves user experience for everyone.
Under Europe’s new rules, accessibility is mandatory for many businesses, which “opens the door to a massive, underserved market” rather than just a compliance burden. Below, we break down the key benefits and some data illustrating the value of accessibility.
Expanded audience reach and revenue opportunities
One of the most immediate benefits of an accessible website is access to a much larger customer base.
By designing for inclusivity, you welcome millions of people who might otherwise be unable to use your site. In the European Union alone, over 80 million people have disabilities (roughly 1 in 6 EU residents).
Globally, the numbers are even more striking – around 1.3–2 billion people worldwide live with some form of disability, representing a collective spending power of USD 8 trillion (which rises to $13 trillion when including their friends and families). This is often referred to as the world’s largest untapped market segment.
Businesses “can no longer afford to ignore the value of more than one billion people” with disabilities in the marketplace.
More customers
An accessible e-commerce site or service allows you to serve this large population.
If your site is inaccessible, you are locking out a portion of your audience (and sending them to competitors). On the other hand, when content is accessible, people notice and “will spread the word” about your inclusive service, giving you positive word-of-mouth marketing.
Higher conversion & loyalty
Studies show that people with disabilities actively prefer businesses that accommodate them.
Over 85% of consumers with disabilities will limit their shopping to companies they know are accessible, and 75% are willing to pay more for products and services that are accessible to them.
This means accessibility can foster strong customer loyalty from a historically underserved group.
Avoiding lost sales
Failing to offer an accessible experience drives customers away.
An estimated 75% of people with disabilities will abandon a business if they have a poor user experience on its website. Online, about 69% of disabled users say they will leave a website that isn’t accessible, representing huge lost sales.
In the UK alone, inaccessible websites are estimated to cost businesses over USD 21 billion in lost revenue per year as frustrated shoppers click away to competitors.
One analysis found that companies with inaccessible sites lose about $6.9 billion to competitors annually. Inclusive design directly translates to capturing revenue that would otherwise be lost.
Market growth and an aging population
The size of the accessible market is only growing.
Demographic trends (like an aging population) mean more users will have impairments and accessibility needs over time.
Europe projected an increase from 80 million to 120 million people with disabilities by 2020 due to aging and health factors. Designing for accessibility now is a future-proof investment to serve this growing demographic.
One accessibility advocate noted, “When you picture your end user, if you’re not considering someone who uses assistive technology or an older person with changing abilities, you are actively limiting your reach”.
Enhanced brand image and inclusive marketing value
Another significant upside of touting an accessible website is the positive brand value it creates. In an era of social responsibility, showing that your business cares about inclusion can significantly strengthen your brand reputation.
Inclusive brand perception
Embracing accessibility sends a powerful message that your company values diversity and inclusion, which are increasingly important to consumers.
The W3C notes that an accessibility commitment can “enhance your brand”. A clear accessibility policy accelerates diversity and inclusion efforts.
Research backs this up. Consumers are more likely to support and stay loyal to brands that publicly commit to inclusion and accessibility.
An official accessibility statement on your site (outlining your compliance with WCAG/ADA) is a practical way to broadcast this commitment and show that you welcome all customers.
This kind of public commitment not only attracts customers with disabilities but also appeals to socially conscious customers and partners who value companies that “do the right thing.”
More than a quarter of investors say they’re willing to accept a lower return if a company benefits society—an inclusive ethos can thus make your company more attractive to investors and stakeholders.
Marketing & PR advantage
Companies often leverage their accessibility achievements in marketing campaigns, press releases, and communications to highlight leadership in inclusion.
Compliance with the new European Accessibility Act (EAA) or showcasing a “WCAG 2.1 AA” compliance badge on your site can be a selling point.
It signals that your business is forward-thinking and cares about all its customers, which can differentiate you from competitors. Accessibility becomes a business advantage and PR asset.
As a digital accessibility leader at Barclays Bank put it, “Adopting accessibility leads to multiple benefits—reducing legal risks, strengthening brand presence, improving customer experience, and boosting colleague productivity.”
Simply put, an accessible website boosts your brand’s credibility and appeal.
Stronger customer loyalty & trust
When people with disabilities find a company that makes an effort to include them, it creates goodwill and trust.
They’re more likely to remain loyal (as noted earlier, 85% stick to accessible businesses) and even recommend that business within their communities.
This loyalty can extend to friends and family as well, since those close to a person with a disability often prefer businesses that treat their loved ones fairly.
The “friends and family” effect is part of that $13 trillion extended spending power. By marketing your service as accessible, you tap into not just disabled consumers but a broader network that values inclusion.
Industry Leadership
Prioritizing accessibility can position your company as a leader or innovator.
Many high-performing companies already integrate disability inclusion into their strategies. A Fortune 100 study found that disability inclusion is common among top businesses and correlates with better performance.
Being ahead on accessibility can garner recognition, awards, or press coverage (for instance, features in Global Accessibility Awareness Day events or case studies of inclusive businesses).
This reinforces a positive image that can be used in communications and marketing.
Promoting your site’s accessibility is a win-win for communications. It generates positive PR, appeals to customer values, and distinguishes your brand as caring and socially responsible.
As the Valuable 500’s inclusion report summarized, we’re at a point where “DEI is at the forefront of customers’ perceptions of businesses”, and accessibility (“the missing A in DEI”) naturally aligns with that trend. Companies that champion accessibility send the message that they value everyone’s business.
Better user experience for all (Usability, SEO, and Innovation)
Designing for accessibility often has the side effect of making your website better for everyone, not just people with disabilities. Many accessibility best practices overlap with general UX best practices, resulting in a smoother, more intuitive experience for all users.
Usability improvements
Accessible design requires straightforward navigation, well-structured content, readable text, and alternative media consumption (like transcripts or captions).
These features tend to benefit users without disabilities, too.
Providing captions on videos helps deaf users, but it also helps hearing users who may be in a noisy environment or who prefer reading along.
A good 85% of Netflix subscribers regularly use subtitles or closed captions! Similarly, ensuring buttons and links are clearly labeled and large enough helps users with low vision or motor difficulties, and makes the site easier for anyone to use (fewer mis-clicks, less confusion).
Accessibility guidelines “encourage considerations of diverse perspectives and needs,” helping marketers and designers create content that reaches the widest audience possible.
One expert described this as the “trickle-down effect” or “design for the margins”. If you optimize the experience for people who face the most challenges, “you get the middle [mainstream users] for free” because your design becomes more robust and flexible for everyone.
Conversely, inaccessible sites are often a usability nightmare for all: they tend to be confusing, unforgiving, and frustrating to navigate (e.g., a cluttered page with poor contrast or missing labels frustrates users without disabilities too).
By fixing those issues in the name of accessibility, you streamline the user experience. In short, good accessibility is good usability.
SEO benefits
Many WCAG accessibility requirements align with best practices for search engine optimization (SEO).
Adding descriptive page titles, proper heading structure, and text alternatives (alt text) for images, and transcripts for multimedia not only makes content accessible to screen reader users, it also makes your content more machine-readable by Google and other search engines.
This can improve your search rankings and discoverability.
Likewise, accessible websites often load faster and work on a variety of devices (since they’re built to be robust and operable in different ways), which are factors that can boost SEO and user engagement.
Businesses have found that accessibility improvements “improve bounce rates and other key eCommerce metrics”, meaning users stay on the site longer and convert more, which is good for SEO and sales.
Accessible design also overlaps with mobile-friendly design (for example, sites without a mouse and with flexible layouts). In the early mobile era, accessible, standards-compliant sites proved more mobile-ready, delighting users and foreshadowing today’s responsive design trends.
All these technical perks mean an accessible site can attract more traffic and higher conversion across all audiences.
Innovation and future-proofing
Solving accessibility challenges can drive innovation.
There are many instances where solutions created for people with disabilities later became mainstream breakthroughs. Voice controls, speech-to-text dictation, text messaging, touchscreen interfaces, and voice assistants were initially developed or popularized as assistive technologies.
Now they’re ubiquitous features that everyone uses. “Accessible design is by its nature flexible,” notes the W3C, and this flexibility often yields creative new ways for all users to interact with technology.
By embracing accessibility, businesses spur “out-of-the-box” thinking that can lead to better products. It’s no coincidence that companies known for innovation (Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc.) deeply invest in accessibility in their products.
Designing to meet WCAG guidelines can thus catalyze product improvements and innovation that set you apart.
Accessibility helps future-proof your site: as new devices and assistive technologies emerge, a semantically coded, flexible website will adapt more easily, extending its lifespan and compatibility.
So, making your site accessible tends to improve the overall user experience for everyone, improve your site’s technical performance, and foster innovation.
It’s a holistic win. You’re not only accommodating users with disabilities, you’re often creating a cleaner, more effective design for all users, which can increase satisfaction and engagement across the board.
Legal compliance and risk mitigation
Beyond the direct marketing and user experience benefits, accessibility compliance also protects your business from legal risks. Many countries mandate digital accessibility in one form or another, and the cost of non-compliance can be high.
Avoiding lawsuits and fines
In the United States, the ADA and related laws (like Section 508 for government-related sites) require websites and online services to be accessible, under the principle that inaccessible websites constitute discrimination.
In recent years, thousands of ADA web accessibility lawsuits have been filed, targeting businesses of all sizes.
Legal action can result in costly settlements, penalties, and reputational damage.
Designing your site to meet standards (such as WCAG 2.1 AA) helps ensure you’re “well-positioned for compliance with the ADA and various international disability non-discrimination laws”.
This dramatically reduces the risk of expensive lawsuits, a tangible benefit for your bottom line. Lawsuits are costly, and compliance is in your organization’s best interests.
Avoiding even a single lawsuit can justify the investment in accessibility.
Meeting the European Accessibility Act
In the EU, accessibility is swiftly becoming a non-negotiable requirement for doing business. The European Accessibility Act (EAA) took effect in June 2025, extending accessibility obligations to private sector digital products and services (especially e-commerce, banking, and travel services).
Businesses operating in the EU must now ensure their websites, apps, and online services comply with accessibility standards or face penalties.
Member states can impose fines or other enforcement measures. For example, France can fine up to €7,500 per violation (and €15,000 for repeat offenses), Germany can impose penalties up to €100,000 for severe cases, and the Netherlands up to €103,000. In extreme cases, non-compliant products could even be barred from the market.
Inaccessible design now carries real legal and financial risk in the EU. By investing in accessibility, a business avoids these penalties and can confidently expand across European markets. Compliance is not just about preventing punishment; it also signals reliability and due diligence to partners and customers (who know your service meets official standards).
Regulatory and contract advantages
An accessible website can open doors to opportunities that would otherwise be closed.
Government agencies and many large organizations will only contract with vendors or websites that meet accessibility criteria.
If your site is WCAG-compliant, you may qualify for partnerships or public sector contracts that mandate accessibility.
Compliance can thus be a competitive advantage when bidding for projects or catering to clients with strict diversity and inclusion policies.
Reducing future retrofit costs
Incorporating accessibility from the start (or improving it now) can save you money in the long run.
Retroactively fixing an inaccessible site after a complaint or legal demand can be much more costly than making it accessible in the first place.
By proactively meeting guidelines, you future-proof your site against mandated changes.
Accessible sites often have cleaner code and better structure, which translates to easier maintenance and scalability (as a side benefit, lower development costs over time).
You’re building a stable foundation that won’t require rushed, expensive overhauls to meet legal requirements later.
Compliance should not be just a legal checkbox but a crucial business safeguard.
It ensures you’re not alienating or discriminating against a segment of users (which aligns with legal and ethical expectations), and it shields you from the financial hits of lawsuits or fines.
Many organizations have learned that neglecting accessibility can damage their reputation and finances.
Making your services accessible strengthens your position. You are operating within the law, demonstrating corporate responsibility, and can confidently advertise that everyone can use your site.
Is accessibility a smart business strategy?
Conforming to WCAG, ADA, EAA, and other accessibility standards yields many benefits for online businesses.
It opens your digital doors to millions of new customers, increases sales and loyalty, and gives you a positive story to tell in your marketing. It pushes you to create higher-quality websites that work better for all users and perform well in search engines. And it keeps you on the right side of regulations, avoiding legal troubles.
All these factors combined mean that the ROI of web accessibility can be remarkably high. Studies have estimated as much as a $100 return for every $1 invested in accessibility improvements, once you account for the expanded customer base, improved conversion rates, and cost savings.
Building an accessible online service is good business and the right thing to do.
It embodies the principle of equal access while strengthening your company’s competitive edge.
As one product manager aptly said about the new EU accessibility mandates: “Accessibility is global. It’s good business. And it’s the right thing to do.”
Embracing accessibility is a chance to win customer goodwill, drive innovation, and grow your market in ways that non-inclusive businesses will miss. It’s not just about compliance – it’s about opportunity.
By making your website or e-shop welcoming to people of all abilities, you invest in a more inclusive society and secure a more prosperous future for your business.
Resources:
- World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Web Accessibility Initiative – The Business Case for Digital Accessibility
- European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Statistics on people with disabilities in the EU
- European Commission (Eurostat), Disability statistics – access to ICT (2024 data)
- CMSWire, “The European Accessibility Act Is Here: Are Your Digital Experiences Compliant?” (May 2025)
- Recite Me, “Exploring Web Accessibility Statistics and Trends” (2025)
- Fable, “The Compounding Value of Investing in Digital Accessibility” (2023)
- The Valuable 500, Press Release on Global Accessibility Awareness (2022)
