Covid-19 highlights accessibility importance

Digital accessibility technology company AAAtraq (opens in a new window), says that reliance on the internet will increase following Covid-19 and that meeting digital accessibility guidelines will be more important than ever for US organisations.

Covid-19 is having a dramatic effect now, with many more working from home and relying on the internet for connecting with loved ones, home deliveries, education, and entertainment. It has been estimated that (add numbers coming out of the US).

But as the effects of the virus subsides, the working landscape may change forever, with home working becoming normal and more acceptable than ever before, especially as technology develops to support collaborative remote working.

“These trends will only serve to add emphasize more how digital accessibility is now more important than ever for those with visual and hearing disabilities within the US society,” said Lawrence Shaw, CEO of AAAtraq.

Currently around 60 million people in the US have some form of hearing or visual disability.

Around 12 million people aged 40+ years have vision impairment, 1 million of whom are blind. Moreover, by 2050 9 million people in the US over the age of 40 are predicted to suffer from vision impairments that cannot be corrected.

Approximately 48 million Americans are thought to have some degree of hearing loss. And these numbers are likely to get progressively worse over the coming years with the 12.5 percent of children aged between 6 and 19 experiencing a degree of hearing loss due to listening to music on ear buds at unsafe volumes.

“Complying with digital accessibility regulations is currently poor in the US with 94% of websites failing,” continued Shaw. “But website owners need to wake up to the new environment and be willing to recognise that not everybody who uses their websites and apps are free from disability.”

ENDS

AAAtraq

AAAtraq (www.aaatraq.com) is an InsurTech company for those that manage risk. Our service shields organizations from ADA website compliance litigation with up to $50,000 of costs coverage.

For $99/month and within an hour, clients are protected from legal aggression and are demonstrating reasonable adjustment.

Clients can then follow a step-by-step plan that helps make ADA compliance easier to understand, less distracting to achieve, with a lower cost to maintain.