Black Friday and Cyber Monday are just around the corner. Is your eCommerce website prepared for a wave of holiday shoppers with disabilities?
In 2018, the National Retail Foundation reported that 4 out of 10 consumers would start shopping as early as November 1st, and 55% of their purchases would be made online. These number of online shoppers increased 40% from the previous year, and 2019 is likely to continue on this upward trend.
While most businesses prepare by improving their security and site performance measures, if your site or app isn’t accessible to people with disabilities, you could be missing out on a significant market share or be at risk for legal complaints.
Capture a huge, overlooked market share
Approximately one in five people in the United States, or 64 million, have a disability.
The total after-tax disposable income for working-age people with disabilities is approximately $490 billion. For comparison, African Americans’ disposable income is $501 billion and for people of Hispanic origin, it is $582 billion.
In 2018, an estimated 165.8 million consumers shopped between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday. So if we do the math, approximately 33.16 million (1 out of 5) consumers on Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday could be shoppers with disabilities. Furthermore, studies have shown that two-thirds of people with disabilities will abandon a website if it is inaccessible. However they don’t abandon the purchase – they simply buy from your competitor.
Not only does having an accessible website boost earning potential for your organization, but it improves your organization’s brand value. Younger consumers whose buying decisions are influenced by social justice will be less likely to trust your brand if your site is inaccessible. In fact, 9 out of 10 blind internet users are vocal anti-advocates for inaccessible companies.
It is important to note that mobile accessibility is also crucial for gaining people with disabilities as potential customers, as two-thirds of Thanksgiving weekend shoppers turned to their mobile devices to research and purchase holiday items.
Survey research data collected by the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Technologies (Wireless RERC) indicate that 84% of people with disabilities own or use a cellphone or smartphone. When including tablets, that statistic raises the wireless device ownership rate for people with disabilities to 91%.
Avoid a costly complaint or lawsuit
If your site is inaccessible, you’re not only missing out on a huge, overlooked market, but you’re potentially at risk for a legal complaint or lawsuit. In fact, ADA Web Accessibility-Related Lawsuits exploded 181% – from 2017 (814) to 2018 (2285).
Real-world numbers from an accessibility-related lawsuit show that legal fees (not including settlement fees) alone could cost you more than $350,000…
| Action | Participant | Hours/Participant | Total Hours | Extended Costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawyers Assigned, Business Notified | 8 | 2 | 16 | $3,600.00 |
| Outside Counsel Retainer (Estimate) | – | – | – | $150,000.00 |
| Initial Communication to Involved | 45 | 2 | 90 | $20,250.00 |
| Hold Order Processing | 45 | 3 | 135 | $30,375.00 |
| Outside Counsel Documents | 8 | 8 | 64 | $14,400.00 |
| Initial Discover (Ordered by Judge) | 10 | 24 | 240 | $54,000.00 |
| Status Meetings | 7 | 10 | 70 | $15,750.00 |
| Prep Court Status Hearing | 6 | 5 | 30 | $6,750.00 |
| Prep for Negotiation | 6 | 5 | 30 | $6,750.00 |
| Negotiation | 3 | 3 | 9 | $2,025.00 |
| Settlement Draft | 5 | 5 | 25 | $5,625.00 |
| Settlement Draft Review | 10 | 4 | 40 | $9,000.00 |
| Settlement Finalization | 5 | 2 | 10 | $2,250.00 |
| Settlement Processing | 3 | 2 | 6 | $1,350.00 |
| Hold Older Release | 45 | 2 | 90 | $20,250.00 |
| Close Project, File, Documentation | 8 | 8 | 64 | $14,400.00 |
| Litigation Grand Total | $356,775.00 |
*A blended rate of $250/hour utilized in calculations.
Furthermore, accessibility complaints from unhappy customers can result in approximately $994,950 annually. Please see below for my calculations based on experience as a founder and owner of the Digital Accessibility Program Office for a Fortune 50 Insurance Company:
| Action | Participant | Hours/Participant | Total Hours | Extended Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSO/Email/Chat Receipt | 1 | .75 | .75 | $90.00 |
| CSO/Email/Chat Accommodation | 2 | .75 | 1.5 | $180.00 |
| Documentation of Issue | 1 | .75 | .75 | $90.00 |
| Processing of Issues | 1 | 1.5 | 1.5 | $180.00 |
| Spool Up Fix Project | 5 | 4.5 | 22.5 | $2,700.00 |
| Design | 1 | 4.5 | 4.5 | $540.00 |
| Code | 1 | 9 | 9 | $1,080.00 |
| QA | 1 | 7.5 | 7.5 | $900.00 |
| Production Issuance | 5 | 4.5 | 22.5 | $2,700.00 |
| Spool Down Project | 5 | 2.5 | 12.5 | $1,500.00 |
| Customer Follow-Up | 1 | .75 | .75 | $90.00 |
| Complaint Grand Total | $10,050.00 |
A blended rate of $120/hour utilized in calculations.
| Factors | Calculations |
|---|---|
| Scale Factor of Design vs. Production Defect | 100X |
| Proactive Fix Cost in Design | $100.50 |
| Reactive Fix Cost in Production | $9,949.50 |
| 100 Complaints Per Year to Fix in Post Production Could Cost | $994,950.00 |
Using previous IBM studies as a reference, the cost of fixing a defect in production can be as much as 100x more than addressing it in design or development.
Our estimated cost of activities is $10,050 – using this scale factor, it would have cost only $100.50 to fix this defect in the early design or development phase. By subtracting the proactive fix cost from the total reactive fix, you’ve got a loss of $9,949.50.
Even if your organization only receives 10 complaints a year, that’s about a $100,000 loss. With survey/research results showing visually impaired people using call centers for service and complaints about once per week, 100 complaints per year are not hard to imagine.
Next Steps
If your website is inaccessible, not only are you at risk for costly complaints or lawsuits, but you’re also missing out on a huge, overlooked market for your business. You can use the statistics above to make the business, fiscal, and legal case for your organization to invest in accessibility before holiday shopping begins. Below are a few simple steps your organization can take to start with accessibility:
- Start simple with free, open-source automated testing tools, such as axe. Such tools can catch between 30-50% of accessibility issues. Axe is also available as a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox, and there are axe tools for testing Android applications and iOS (coming soon).
- Contact us for consultation regarding other services, training, or tools that could help your organization on its accessibility journey.