Business Case

ease of use and accessibility business case with legal, commercial, social and moral benefits.

Key business goals for accessible and usable information communication technologies

(Taken from OneVoice for Accessible ICT)

  • Reach new markets.
  • Maximize employee engagement and productivity.
  • Provision high quality products and services.
  • Improve supply chain management.
  • Build partner and community relations.
  • Minimize risk of legal action.

Case studies from the report below showed that “in achieving these goals, each organisation reveals how the investment contributes to critical success factors relating to customers, employees and internal processes, thus improving performance. Crucially they illustrate how the investment increases the bottom line. And further how providing accessible ICTs contributes to a social responsibility agenda to benefit society as a whole.

Accessible Information and Communication Technologies: Benefits to Business and Society Report (download PDF 4.81 MB)

Current statistics show that over 50s now control around 80% of the UK’s personal wealth and account for 40% of consumer spending while people with disabilities have an estimated annual spending power of £80 billion a year. Neglecting to design for older people and potential impairments is therefore a serious commercial error. (OneVoice for Accessible ICT)

The document “Social Factors in Developing a Web Accessibility Business Case for Your Organization” discusses how the Web impacts the lives of people with disabilities, the overlap with digital divide issues, and Web accessibility as an aspect of corporate social responsibility.

18% of men and women aged 16 and over reported having at least one disability, and 5% reported having a serious disability. The prevalence and severity of disability increases steadily with age and this is reflected in the difference in the mean age of adults with one or more disabilities (62 years) and those without a disability (44 years). The most commonly reported type of disability was locomotor disability (12% of men and 14% of women) followed by hearing disability (6%, 4%) and sight disability (2%, 3%). (Health Survey for England, 2001)