Does Your Tiny Business Really Need to Worry about Accessibility?

I’ll admit it: when I started the research for this article, I expected to find stories of altruism or political grandstanding.

I was surprised by what I found. For instance, did you know that back in 1997 our very own Royal Bank of Canada installed the world’s first talking ATM in an Ottawa branch?

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In 2024 RBC posted record earnings of $16.2 billion, and the bank credits the growth, in part, to their focus on accessibility standards.

Accenture’s survey found that companies leading on accessibility, claim 28% higher revenue and double the net income of their peers!

2022 paid report from Forrester Research  estimated that accessibility and user improvements bring back $100 for every $1 invested.

I had also assumed that the market for accessible services would be too tiny for most small businesses to consider. But according to a 2022 Stats Canada survey, 1 in 20 Canadians runs into an issue online. That is 1.4 million adults.

Side note: have you ever tried to convince an aging parent to admit they need glasses or a hearing aid?(She’d rather be the loudest person in the room than admit she has a hearing problem.) My point? Self-reported disabilities are severely under-reported.

And one of our fearless WCEH Organizers pointed out that 100% of us will face a ‘disability’ at some point: a broken bone, hearing loss, sight issues, surgery or medical issues that force us to adapt. A flu that puts us in bed and off work. Every. Single. One of us.

So now I’m convinced: we need to bake accessibility into our websites by default.

So then the question becomes,what do we do? How? And how much will it hurt?

The Accessibility Authority & Stakeholders

The Accessible Canada Act aims to make Canada barrier-free by January 1, 2040. This is our country’s main advocate for accessibility, made up of elected and appointed politicians and people with lived experience.

ACA also has the means to enforce the standards. They can levy penalties of up to $250,000 per violation!

ACA is basing their digital standards and plans on the worldwide standards known as WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines – recently changed to W3 Consortium Accessibility Guidelines). It bundles 13 guidelines under four principles. They are listed below and copied verbatim from WCAG.

Perceivable

• Deliver text alternatives for non-text content.
• Deliver captions and other alternatives for multimedia.
• Create content that can be presented in different ways, including by assistive technologies, without losing meaning.
• Make it easier for users to see and hear content.

Operable

• Make all functionality available from a keyboard.
• Give users enough time to read and use content.
• Do not use content that causes seizures or physical reactions.
• Help users navigate and find content.
• Make it easier to use inputs other than keyboard.

Understandable

• Make text readable and understandable.
• Make content appear and operate in predictable ways.
• Help users avoid and correct mistakes.

Robust

• Maximize compatibility with current and future user tools.

WCAG Version 2.2 added 9 more criteria for success. (Listed here)

That covers what we ought to do. Putting it all into practice, and learning about all the iterations takes time and effort. And this isnt going to happen by accident. Troy does an excellent job inspiring us – regardless of our technical or editing ability. When we know why, we are far more likely to enjoy (read:do) the thing.

Now, lets get practical.

Make it Practical: A Warning

At my agency last week we heard two very different requests from clients. One sent us a 20+ page report (from a paid plugin) of accessibility issues that needed fixing.

Ironically, the button the Accessibility plugin added, was part of the problem!

The second, a worried plea for help because a business colleague was just fined for not meeting accessibility standards (in Florida) online.

Which brings me to the golden rule (as I have dubbed it) of accessibility: do not rely on computer scans and tools.

You can only get a full picture of your site’s issues by assessing how real people with disabilities, who use assistive technologies and who don’t, use your site.

Be wary of promises and automated services selling a quick fix. With accessibility, if it is cheap or quick – it likely isn’t real.

Make it Practical: A Checklist

Here are some tasks anyone can do today:

Are you the writer?

• adjust type sizes and contrasts
• add alt tags to images (describe the photo)
• use HTML headers in their proper semantic order
• WCEH 2025 Session: Content Managers: Let’s Make Your Website Accessible

Are you the developer?

• use clean, accessible themes & plugins
• add titles and aria-labels to links and icons/buttons
• scan and test pages with browser extensions
• tab through every page
• add voice readers
• keep up with new WCAG versions (I just learned this aria-labelled by tonight!)
• WCEH 2025 Session: Audit and Remediate a Site for Accessibility

Are you browsing, as a user?

• when your favorite sites don’t have accessibility statements, ask for them
• when you encounter issues with a website, let its team know—it is invaluable to find out about issues!

So that’s my research this week. Disclosure: I’m off to craft my accessibility statement! If you have experience in this area, please share your tutorial in the comments. Let’s make our sites usable for everyone.

And, of course I’ll be at all the Accessibility talks this October! See you there?

Get your tickets, bring your curiosity, and join us in Ottawa this fall for an unforgettable celebration of WordPress, community, and the open web! 🌐

🎟️ Tickets are on sale now, and we’ve secured discount rates for you at area hotels. 🏨