How to Measure the Impact of Accessibility Improvements on Your Marketing Metrics

Back to blog

How to Measure the Impact of Accessibility Improvements on Your Marketing Metrics

Posted October 16, 2024

AudioEye

Posted October 16, 2024

Stylized web browser with a line graph and pie chart with 54% written underneath. The accessibility icon is to the left of the browser.
Stylized web browser with a line graph and pie chart with 54% written underneath. The accessibility icon is to the left of the browser.

Ready to see AudioEye in action?

Watch Demo

Improving marketing metrics is a goal for most organizations. Below, we'll look at how enhancing digital accessibility and creating a more inclusive experience for all positively impacts your marketing metrics.

Digital accessibility is often treated as an obligation — which it is, to some degree. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and various other laws prohibit organizations from discriminating against people with disabilities, and providing accessible digital content is crucial for compliance. 

But if you’re trying to attract more traffic, tell your brand’s story, and convert more users into customers, accessibility should be a core part of your strategy. 

People with disabilities are a significant part of your business’s audience: They’re roughly 25% of the U.S. adult population, and they control an estimated $21 billion in disposable income. With help from a qualified accessibility remediation service, you can engage those potential customers and build a stronger brand.


Below, we’ll show how the best practices of accessible design can help you expand your reach and improve the experiences of real-life users.

What is an Accessibility Remediation Service?

An accessibility remediation service evaluates websites, mobile apps, web-delivered documents and other digital content to find barriers that might impact people with disabilities. 

Simply put, remediation services find problems that need to be fixed and then fix them. This makes content more useful for people who use screen readers (software that converts text to audio) and other assistive technologies (AT). 


Accessibility remediation also improves experiences for all users. That includes people with color vision deficiencies, hearing disabilities, cognitive disorders, and people who don’t have disabilities that affect their internet usage.

Accessibility Starts (But Doesn’t End) With Compliance

Accessibility professionals test content against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), an internationally recognized framework published by the World Wide Web Consortium. 

Why WCAG? For starters, it’s the standard for compliance with dozens of digital accessibility laws, including Title II of the ADA, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), and the European Accessibility Act (EAA). The Justice Department also recommends testing content against WCAG 2.1 Level AA to measure Title III compliance. 

But compliance is only part of the story. An accessible website is simply a well-designed website. People shouldn’t have to fight against your site’s design to find the information they need — and the best practices of WCAG help you provide users with a better experience.

Why Measure Accessibility Efforts?

There’s no such thing as "perfect accessibility,” but WCAG is an international standard for good reason: When websites conform with WCAG, they’re reasonably accessible for most users. 

Measuring your accessibility efforts against WCAG will help you determine how far you’ve come and what you need to prioritize to reach more users. You can effectively set goals and make stronger decisions when building your web content.

And as is the case with other marketing metrics, tracking your accessibility score will help you maintain a consistent strategy — and understand how improvements directly impact your business.

An empty form on a landing page, with an accessibility symbol in the lower left corner.

The Connection Between Accessibility and Marketing

Accessible design isn't just about compliance; it's about creating a website that works for everyone. When you remove barriers that affect people with disabilities, you're naturally improving the user experience for all yo

Web Traffic and Organic Search Rankings (SEO)

The best practices of search engine optimization (SEO) are strongly aligned with accessibility. If your website is compatible with assistive technologies, search engines can crawl it more effectively —and clear, organized content tends to perform better in search. 

  • Writing accurate alternative text (alt text) for images enables search engines to understand the context of those images. It’s also vitally important for users with low vision. 
  • A consistent heading structure sends clear signals to the search engines about the content on each page. Headings also make your website more scannable for AT users.
  • Captions and transcripts can help video content rank for relevant keywords. They’re also essential for users with vision and/or hearing disabilities.
  • Meaningful link text helps search engines rank content effectively. It’s also helpful for people who use screen readers.

Conversion Rate Optimization

For marketers, the ultimate goal is to get users to complete a purchase, sign up for a newsletter, or perform some other action. A very small percentage of your visitors will take that step: Mailchimp estimates that a “good” website conversion rate falls between 2% and 5% for most businesses.

Digital accessibility helps with conversion rate optimization (CRO) in several ways:

  • WCAG emphasizes simple processes with clear instructions. That’s fundamental to CRO: The less resistance users face when taking an action, the lower the chances that they’ll abandon the process.
  • WCAG discourages the use of elements that draw too much attention (such as autoplay videos, which aren’t especially effective at engaging users). More focus translates to better results.
  • As we’ve discussed, accessibility improves SEO, which can help you reach your target demographics. When you’re speaking directly to your target audience, it's easier to keep them engaged.
  • Finally, if your website isn’t accessible with assistive technologies, it’s not useful for a large percentage of your audience — and inevitably, that means fewer conversions.

Bounce Rate Optimization

Bounce rate measures the percentage of users that click on your link, then quickly leave the page. 

High bounce rates are a clear warning sign that you’re doing something wrong. Once again, an accessible approach helps: 

  •  If your page contains low-contrast text, flashing graphics, or other accessibility errors, users will likely bounce. 
  • If your website doesn’t work with screen readers or other AT, users will bounce (and they likely won’t come back). 
  • Accessible web design prioritizes clarity. The user experience is simpler and more seamless, which reduces frustration and keeps users engaged. 


That doesn’t mean that following WCAG will limit your design choices: Some of the internet’s most popular and aesthetically interesting websites follow WCAG. But when you use elements in a way that all users can perceive, you’re creating a more consistent message (and just as importantly, you’re not annoying your target audience).

Engagement Metrics

An accessible website encourages users to dive deeper into content, view more products, and spend more time on your website. That influences pages per session, time on page, and other key performance indicators (KPIs). 

  • WCAG requires appropriate contrast for text, which ensures that content is readable for people with low vision. Appropriate contrast can also limit eye strain for all users during extended sessions.
  • Captions and transcripts increase engagement for video content. In one study performed by Facebook, ads with captions had an increased video view time by an average of 12 percent.
  • Accessible websites are simply less frustrating to use. Easy-to-understand forms, clear error messages, and well-structured content help users find what they need.

Customer Satisfaction, Retention, and Loyalty

Accessibility also presents branding opportunities. Stanford’s Web Credibility Research project found that 75% of customers judge a business’s credibility by evaluating their website. When web content is accessible, it’s much more credible.

There’s also an excellent opportunity to demonstrate your business’s social values by communicating your commitment to accessibility. While consumers might not know what “WCAG" means, they understand that the internet should work for everyone — including people with disabilities. 


Publishing an accurate accessibility statement can help you win loyal customers and boost KPIs like Net Promoter Score®, a popular metric for measuring whether consumers are likely to recommend a business to friends or family.

A series of slides stacked on top of each other, with an accessibility icon on the top slide.

How to Measure Accessibility and Monitor Impact

Accessibility is an ongoing process — not a one-time project. To realize the business benefits of inclusive web design, you’ll need to measure your progress, set realistic goals, and make the case for accessibility to your teams. 

Some tips for getting started:

As you implement fixes, you can measure the impact through tools like Google Analytics, heatmaps, SEMrush (for SEO), and other user testing platforms. Your efforts will impact your marketing performance right away — and over time, you’ll see accessibility as an opportunity to build a competitive advantage.

Accessibility: Good for Business, Great for Marketing

The accessibility of your digital content is intrinsically linked to your core marketing goals. By following the principles of WCAG, you're not only opening your doors to a wider audience — including the significant market share represented by people with disabilities — you’re creating better online experiences for all users. 

If you’re ready to see how increasing accessibility can impact your marketing metrics, AudioEye can help. Our Accessibility Platform includes robust accessibility tools designed to enhance accessibility, improve the user experience for all, and help you comply with accessibility laws. 


Ready to get started? Use our free Web Accessibility Checker to scan your content now. Or schedule a demo to see AudioEye in action.

Ready to see AudioEye in action?

Watch Demo

Ready to test your website for accessibility?

Scan your website now.

Share post

Topics:

Keep Reading