It’s especially important to cater to people who are typically underserv in the digital world. For example, people who are blind or have low vision, deaf or hard of hearing, neurodivergent, or have motor challenges. These people often face barriers when an experience isn’t properly design. Online journeys are often complicat experiences for people, and brands ne to ensure their apps and websites don’t add more complications.
Creating accessible user experiences will soon become a regulatory requirement as well. This year, European Union member states are adopting the European Accessibility Act into their laws.
The expectation is that all online products and services will ne to be accessible once requirements come into effect in 2025.
So where does your accessibility journey begin?
Procter & Gamble: Building Accessibility with Disabl Employees
This question l consumer goods manufacturer Procter & Gamble (P&G) to incorporate audio description — a voiceover describing what’s happening — into its video ads.
“The introduction of audio description comes from my personal experiences,” explains Sam Latif, company accessibility lead at P&G, who is blind. “I was in a meeting when a Flash ad play, but all I could hear was the song ‘Flash’ by Queen. What I twitch for business: how to make the most of this channel didn’t realize was that a dog was singing that song, because, without audio description, I couldn’t understand the humor of the ad.”
The P&G team work with the Royal National Institute of Blind People to learn how audio description is done and integrat it into its ads.
P&G didn’t stop there
In 2021, they launch the first Super Bowl ad with audio description. They also ran their first adaptive audio description test in the UK. This means applying audio description to TV ads that don’t have enough natural spaces in the dialogue to provide a description. And, most recently, they add audio description to their YouTube channel.
“We don’t have all the answers yet, but we’re proud contact lists of the progress we’ve made,” says Latif. “Experiences like this have l to change, with audio description opening up our advertising to millions more people around the world.”