Every day, business leaders make seemingly small but meaningful mistakes that leave a large population of users with disabilities out in the cold. Companies are aware that they should be prioritizing the accessibility of their product — and in turn the inclusiveness of their brand — in order to maximize their reach and value. Yet in many cases, they make the wrong choices because they don’t know where their gaps in understanding are or who they’re unintentionally excluding. For example, earlier this year, there was outrage after leading UK train websites went grayscale as a tribute to Prince Philip after his death — a well-intentioned change that left people with visual impairments unable to use them.
4 Common Ways Companies Alienate People with Disabilities
Accessibility can’t be an afterthought.
November 29, 2021
HBR Staff; Pexels; SeventyFour/Getty Images
Summary.
Executives and product team leaders need to stop excluding people with disabilities and understand that their decisions affect how users interact with every aspect of their products and services. At this point, leaders have the right tools at their disposal, but need to become more aware of their oversights. The author presents four common mistakes leaders make that prevent people with disabilities from interacting with their companies. First, they expect users to do the hard work for them. Second, they don’t understand that accessibility requires constant maintenance. Third, they overlook how accessibility applies to every step of the customer journey. Finally, they fail to bring accessibility tools into their own teams’ workflows.