Navigating Australia’s Disability Discrimination Act for a digitally accessible business

Imagine you’re a travel business offering services for trips to the famed Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. Two customers visit your website—one uses a screen reader, and the other doesn’t. Both are excited to explore hiking trails and book a cozy stay. However, if your website isn’t digitally accessible, only one of these customers can complete their booking. By failing to prioritize accessibility, you’ve lost a potential customer and missed an opportunity to demonstrate inclusivity and expand your market reach. Now, imagine similar scenarios happening with thousands and thousands of potential customers!

Accessibility isn’t just a legal requirement—it’s a chance to create seamless experiences for all users, build trust with your audience, and connect your products and services with one in five Australians with a disability.

What is the Disability Discrimination Act, and why does It matter?

The DDA has existed since 1992. It follows web accessibility guidelines in Australia, specifically WCAG 2.1 Level AA.

The DDA makes it unlawful to discriminate against people with disabilities in critical areas such as employment, education, and housing. Under the DDA act, not making websites accessible to people with disabilities can be considered discrimination, meaning businesses are legally required to be digitally accessible.

Legal compliance is critical to digital accessibility, but accessibility is more than just ticking legal boxes. It’s about making sure everyone, no matter their ability, can use your website or app to connect, explore, and get what they need. Being accessible builds trust and shows that your business values inclusivity.

Why is digital accessibility good for business?

There’s a lot your business can gain by making your digital platforms accessible:

1. Reach a broader audience: With 21.4% of Australians living with a disability, focusing on Australian accessibility helps you connect with a group that’s often overlooked.
2. Enhance SEO and usability: Features like alt text, clear navigation, and well-structured content don’t just help users with disabilities—they improve the experience for everyone and boost your search engine rankings.
3. Strengthen brand loyalty: When you show you care about Australian standards for disability inclusion, people feel valued. They’re more likely to stick around, recommend your business, and leave positive reviews.
4. Drive innovation: Accessibility challenges push your team to think creatively, leading to solutions that benefit all users.

By prioritizing accessibility, you’re not just avoiding legal risks—creating a better customer experience and setting your business apart in a way that truly matters.

How to align with accessibility standards

You can take the following steps to simplify the process of getting compliant:

1. Start with an accessibility audit
   An accessibility audit is the best way to determine where your platform stands and what needs fixing. Here’s how to get started:

• • Use tools such as axe: At Deque, we built axe to make accessibility testing simple. It’s a free tool that scans your site and flags issues like missing alt text, poor color contrast, or keyboard navigation problems.
  • Test for WCAG 2.1 compliance: Axe can help you check if your site meets Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
  • Conduct real-world usability checks: Form a diverse group of users, including people with disabilities, and observe how they interact with your platform to uncover practical insights and ensure it’s accessible and user-friendly for all.

2. Fix the issues you find
   Once your audit is done, you can fix any accessibility issues you identify. Here’s how to tackle common problems:

• • Add alt text: Describe images so screen readers can explain them to visually impaired users.
  • Improve keyboard navigation: Use logical tab order, make interactive elements accessible, provide clear focus indicators, and test with keyboard-only navigation to create an inclusive experience for all users. Try it yourself—use only the tab key to move around.
  • Add captions and transcripts: Add captions to videos and transcripts for audio content. Use tools like YouTube’s auto-captioning or provide downloadable text to ensure accessibility for users with hearing impairments.
  • Use clear headings and layouts: Organize your content with logical headings and a clean structure so it’s easy for everyone to read and navigate.

3. Train your team
   Everyone, from designers to developers to content creators, plays a role in digital accessibility. Here’s how to get your team up to speed:

• • Role-specific training: Designers might need to learn about color contrast and accessible design principles. Developers can focus on coding for screen readers and keyboard navigation. Content creators will understand how to write alt text and use explicit language.
  • Standardize processes: Create guidelines and checklists so accessibility becomes part of your team’s workflow.

4. Keep improving
   Accessibility is an ongoing process. Here’s how to stay on top of it:

• • Schedule regular audits: Use tools like axe to catch new issues as your site evolves.
  • Listen to user feedback: Add a dedicated feedback form or contact option so users can easily provide accessibility feedback. Actively monitor and prioritize these reports and address issues promptly to create a more inclusive experience.
  • Stay updated: Accessibility standards and best practices change over time. Keep your team informed about the latest guidelines, especially those specific to Australian standards for disability inclusion.

A real-world story of accessibility success
A financial institution revamped its website to meet WCAG 2.1 standards. The result? A 15% boost in customer engagement. They avoided legal headaches, improved usability, and became known as an inclusive brand.

The cost of non-compliance

Ignoring DDA accessibility standards can be a big problem:

• Legal penalties: In 2014, one of Australia’s largest supermarket chains had to endure a lawsuit over their online shopping site being inaccessible. Today, Coles offers many digital accessibility features, including screen reader support for blind and low-vision users and captions and transcripts for deaf and hard of hearing users.
• Reputational damage: Excluding people with disabilities can break trust with existing customers and keep potential new customers from wanting to engage with you.
• Missed opportunities: Non-compliance prevents you from reaching a diverse and valuable audience.

The good news? When you shift left—meaning you bake accessibility into your design and development process from the start—you avoid these risks while saving time and money. Plus, you show your customers you care about doing the right thing. Fixing accessibility issues early is way easier (and cheaper!) than fixing them later, and it helps you create a digital experience that includes everyone.

Take the first step toward accessibility

Start with an accessibility audit to understand where you stand and what needs improvement. Want to learn more about setting up a strong foundation for accessibility? Check out these additional resources:

• There’s More to Digital Accessibility Than Policy
• Doing the Numbers: Digital Accessibility and Shifting Left
• When It Comes to Digital Accessibility Lawsuits, the Best Defense Is a Good Offense
• How to Build the Foundation for Digital Accessibility

At Deque, we’ve got the tools, training, and expertise to help you every step of the way. Let’s create a more inclusive, innovative digital future together.