Default content
Attitudes to Digital Accessibility 2023 survey report download
Digital Accessibility: A clear divide is emerging
AbilityNet’s 2023 survey of organisational attitudes to digital accessibility and inclusion has revealed a clear divide between those who are prioritising digital accessibility and those who are lagging behind.
This suggests that organisations are falling into two camps: accessibility leaders and accessibility laggards.
- Accessibility leaders are those who are pushing ahead with accessibility as a strategic goal and investing in the necessary resources and leadership.
- Accessibility laggards are those who are drifting further behind and achieving less in terms of all key accessibility dimensions.
Organisations need to review where they ‘sit’ on the scale of accessibility leaders and accessibility laggards, otherwise the accessibility leaders will reap the benefits of their investment in accessibility, such as more inclusive workforces and increased customer satisfaction.
This is only making leaders more competitive and further ahead of the laggards.
What makes an organisation an accessibility leader?
Responses revealed that particularly in the vision, leadership, process and capability categories, organisations deemed to be in the Accessibility Leaders group were highly likely to have to observed that their organisation had:
- a visible leader of a digital accessibility programme
- a high priority placed upon accessibility within the organisation
- a wider Diversity and Inclusion strategy in place
A full analysis of the methodology for gauging what factors contribute to being categorised as an accessibility leader or laggard are outlined within our full report, which you can download below.
Download the summary report PDF
Download the full report in Word
What the data reveals
- 51% of the collected responses who were deemed to be accessibility leaders were within the business/for profit sector. 22% were within the charity/voluntary sector and 22% were working within Government or public bodies.
- In contrast, 45% of those within the accessibility laggard category were working within Government or public bodies. 16% were within the charity/voluntary sector and 33% were working within a business/for profit.
- A higher proportion of those in the Accessibility Leaders category worked within micro companies (15% compared to 5% of those in the Accessibility Laggards group).
The consequences of being an Accessibility Laggard
Being an accessibility laggard can have serious consequences for an organisation.
- It can lead to compliance issues, as new regulations are being introduced in many markets that require organisations to make their digital products and services accessible.
- It can damage an organisation's reputation and make it less attractive to customers and employees.
- It can lead to lost revenue, as people with disabilities are a significant and growing market segment.
How to become an accessibility leader
1. Get senior buy-in. Accessibility needs to be a top-down priority.
2. Develop a clear strategy. What do you want to achieve? How will you measure your progress?
3. Invest in resources and training. Accessibility is not a one-person job. You need to have a team of people with the skills and knowledge to make your digital products and services accessible.
4. Implement a process to ensure accessibility is considered at every stage of the development process and built in to HR processes to ensure all staff understand the need to maintain accessibility.
5. Get feedback from disabled people. The best way to ensure your digital products and services are accessible is to get feedback from the people who will be using them.
2. Develop a clear strategy. What do you want to achieve? How will you measure your progress?
3. Invest in resources and training. Accessibility is not a one-person job. You need to have a team of people with the skills and knowledge to make your digital products and services accessible.
4. Implement a process to ensure accessibility is considered at every stage of the development process and built in to HR processes to ensure all staff understand the need to maintain accessibility.
5. Get feedback from disabled people. The best way to ensure your digital products and services are accessible is to get feedback from the people who will be using them.
Key findings of Attitudes to Digital Accessibility survey 2023
Respondents to the survey were asked to feedback on five key areas:
- Vision
- Leadership
- Processes
- Capability
- Procurement
The survey structure reflects AbilityNet's Digital Accessibility Maturity Model. This simple, five-part model helps build a picture of current strengths and weaknesses and identify a roadmap for next steps and improvements.
Further analysis of the data from the 2023 survey results indicates that, as the context moves forward for greater innovation and increased digital accessibility, that organisations are perhaps not keeping up. There is room for improvement.
1. Vision:
Clear vision: Fewer respondents in 2023 agreed with the statement ‘My organisation has a clearly stated vision about digital accessibility’ compared to 2022 (39% agreed strongly or slightly in 2023 compared to 49% in 2022).
2. Leadership:
Perception of priority: In 2023, 43% of respondents observed that digital accessibility was a very high or high priority for their senior management/leadership team (compared to 45% in 2022).
3. Capability – unstructured skills development
Skills development: Fewer respondents in 2023 agreed with the statement ‘The organisation helps individuals to develop the skills they need to deliver its digital accessibility vision’ (40% agreed strongly or slightly in 2023 compared to 46% in 2022).
4. Processes
Processes embedded in the lifecycle: Fewer respondents in 2023 agreed with the statement ‘Digital accessibility is embedded throughout the product or service development lifecycle in my organisation’ (38% agreed strongly or slightly in 2023 compared to 40% in 2022).
5. Procurement
More positive data relates to procurement: Slightly more respondents in 2023 agreed with the statement ‘My organisation ensures that purchasing practices and decisions help us maintain or progress our digital accessibility objectives.’ (37% compared to 33% in 2023).
Further report highlights
In this year’s survey we introduced questions about topical developments within digital accessibility and inclusion, such as the advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and an opportunity to share if budgets for maintaining digital accessibility have been slashed or boosted.
Results were mixed.
User testing with disabled audiences, for example, identifies usability and accessibility issues, which accessibility audits alone can’t do, and gives an insight into how people with a range of disabilities and access needs use products and services. Yet, despite its benefits, our research has shown that organisations are not regularly using this valuable and illuminating testing option.
There also appear to be gaps in how organisations are communicating or conveying accessible recruitment practices and the department’s accessibility processes in general to their staff.
This indicates a significant opportunity for organisations to share positive accessibility attitudes and activities within its internal staffing systems, to broaden awareness and encourage best practices.
Download the summary PDF or the full report for further insights into Environmental, Social, & Governance (ESG), Budgets, HR, User Research, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) findings.
Conclusion
Overall, the key survey metrics remain broadly unchanged between the analysis of responses in 2022 and 2023, with the exception of areas outlined.
This indicates that despite a changing environment, with new legislation due to come into place in the US, Europe and Australia, an increasing consumer awareness of the value and importance of disability inclusion, and the older population rapidly accruing access needs, this has not led to a change in urgency.
These results clearly show there is more to be done within organisations to make swift improvements to digital accessibility.
Digital accessibility is not just a moral imperative, it is also a business imperative. Organisations that prioritise accessibility are better positioned to succeed in the marketplace.
If your organisation is an accessibility laggard, it is time to take action.
Download the report:
Download the summary report PDF
Download the full report in Word
Key demographics 2022 - 2023
The level of seniority identified within the respondents this year compared with 2023 is broadly the same.
Size: in this year’s survey, 9% more respondents were from larger organisations than those in 2022 (78% compared to 69%).
Type of organisation: there are more respondents from the charity/voluntary sector in 2023 (22% compared to 12% in 2022) and fewer in government/public sector organisations (40% compared to 53%) but the percentage in private sector is the same over both years.
Location of organisation: This year's survey was heavily dominated by UK-based responses, with strong North American representation and limited but broad global representation (76% UK, 9% USA, 3% Canada and then less than 1% the remainder). A total of 28 countries are represented in the results.
This survey was attitudinal only.
Our annual survey was made available from 1 - 30 September 2023, and was designed by Open Inclusion and disseminated by AbilityNet and partner organisations globally.
Find out more about the survey results report methodology.
Contact Annie Mannion at AbilityNet for questions about the report.