Why Digital Accessibility is Good Business (and the Right Thing to Do)

What if improving your website could help more people, improve your Google rankings and grow your business? 

In this episode of the IT Naturally Podcast, Julie Bishop speaks with Denise Pane, CEO and Founder of Access Design Studio, about why digital accessibility should be a priority for every organisation. 

Together they explore why accessible websites aren’t simply about compliance—they’re about creating better experiences for everyone. 

They discuss: 

• Why around one in four people experience some form of disability. 
• The common misconceptions around digital accessibility. 
• How accessible websites improve usability for every visitor. 
• The commercial benefits, including stronger SEO, increased customer loyalty and reaching wider audiences. 
• Why accessibility should be considered from the start of every website project. 
• Practical first steps for organisations wanting to improve their digital accessibility. 
• How technology can be a force for good by removing barriers and creating more inclusive experiences. 

Whether you’re responsible for your organisation’s website, marketing, digital transformation or customer experience, this conversation offers practical insights into building technology that works better for everyone. 

Useful links 

• Connect with Denise on LinkedIn 
• Access Design Studio Website

About the IT Naturally Podcast 

Hosted by Julie Bishop, CEO of IT Naturally, the IT Naturally Podcast explores how technology can be a force for good. Each episode features conversations with experts, innovators and purpose-driven leaders using technology to make a positive impact.   

Visit the IT Naturally website

Follow IT Naturally on LinkedIn

Connect with Julie on LinkedIn

Transcript

Julie Bishop (00:02.072)
Hi and welcome to the IT Naturally podcast. I'm Julie Bishop. I'm the CEO of IT Naturally. And on this podcast, we explore how technology can be a force for good for people, for businesses and for the wider community. And today we're talking about something that affects far more people than many of us realise. That's digital accessibility. Around one in four adults live with a disability and yet many websites just exclude people because they weren't designed with that in mind.

So joining me today, I'm really excited to have Denise, who's joining us from Northern California. And she spent 25 years helping organisations create websites that everyone can use. And she's really passionate about making the digital world far more inclusive. So let's get started. And Denise, welcome to the IT Naturally podcast.

Denise - Access Design Studio (00:53.875)
I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for having me, Julie.

Julie Bishop (00:57.294)
It's great. you create websites that everyone can use and you're really passionate about making the digital world more inclusive. And you were saying to me when we met before this that after all this time, you've found your people, your group of people. So tell me the story. Tell me what got you into website accessibility.

Denise - Access Design Studio (01:22.087)
What got me into website accessibility is I had had a web design agency for many years, and then I started hearing about this concept of you know people being excluded. And my brother is disabled, and he and my mom are the most important people in my world. So I have a lifetime of experience in the disabled community. and as I got deeper into it, I started realizing things like

Federal websites for health were not accessible to blind people. And I mean it goes it goes on and on. And so it started to be a marrying of two passions, web design and you know, social justice, disability rights, et cetera. And what when I say I found my people is

A lot of times people come to me because they're being sued. In the US, you know, we love our lawsuits, and so there's a lot of lawsuits around website accessibility. And there were two different reactions. One was like, I would hear things like, I don't care. You know, I I would rather take my site down than care if somebody with disabilities can use it. And then I would hear

my gosh, if I had known I of course I would do this. And we started realizing it was more the B Corp, like the social, you know, responsible. And that's what feeds my team and I is working with people, of course, that really care. And the B Corp community cares. And you know, the social responsible, you know, corporate social responsibility, they care.

Julie Bishop (02:46.606)
It's exciting, it's lovely when you find people with the same ethos as you. And when we talk about disabilities, I mean, you've already mentioned someone who's blind, and I think it can be very obvious to people if you're blind, it's difficult to access a website. And we're often seeing people in wheelchairs and that's a disabled person. But actually, it's much, much broader than that, isn't it?

Denise - Access Design Studio (02:51.612)
Yeah.

Denise - Access Design Studio (03:15.078)
Thank you so much. Yes, because when we think of disability we don't

It's hard for us to get our heads around the fact, you know, 25% of the population has a disability. We think of, you know, blind, deaf, or in a wheelchair. We don't realise people struggle to use the web that have ADHD and dyslexia and epilepsy and autism and trembling hands, like a lot of older people that don't even have a registered disability. So, you know, colorblindness, that always blows people's mind, right? So when we really start looking at the larger picture.

you 14 million people in the UK have a disability, we start going, okay, not only is it the right thing to do, but it there's ROI in it. If I open up my site to 25% more people, plus of course search engines love accessibility, you rank higher. So I like I want people to see the whole picture there.

Julie Bishop (04:04.238)
And one of the things that I really loved is when you talked about accessibility actually means that everybody has a better user experience. Tell us more about that.

Denise - Access Design Studio (04:15.494)
That is the piece that kind of it kind of people can't get their head around is that when we're creating a site for a disabled user, or for any it's for any user, but for somebody with disab with a disability.

It creates a better user experience for everybody if we're writing c if we're having clean text. If we're making sure that color contrast is good for someone with low vision, it also means somebody like me, who I don't have a disability, but we're all ADHD when it comes to the web. We want what we want, we want it quickly, and we want it easily. Well, it might be kind of sexy to have that light gray box, but if I'm not sure where to put my cursor in to start typing my name, that's a moment of friction, and we won't

People don't tolerate friction anymore. So and I could go on and on about that, but everything we're doing to make it easily usable by a screen reader or a person with disabilities makes it a better experience for all of us.

Julie Bishop (05:07.136)
Exactly, exactly. I think it's sort of all about good IT, isn't it? So when you build security into a system from day one, everyone benefits. And accessibility feels really similar to that. If you design it from the beginning, it's just easy.

Denise - Access Design Studio (05:28.836)
It's just easy, yeah. And and your point about designing it from the beginning is a good one. Same with security. Like I use this analogy. If we build a house and then we remodel the kitchen and the bathroom and the in the hallways to be accessible, we spend a lot more time, a lot more money and a lot more energy than if we just build it to be accessible in the first place. And so yeah, your point is well made. Let's start with it from the beginning.

Julie Bishop (05:56.045)
Yes, it's a must admit it's a challenge in the UK with so much of our older buildings and things and trying to make them work for everybody can be a real challenge for us.

Denise - Access Design Studio (06:10.438)
Yeah. Luckily with websites we have, you know, we're all we're all redesigning every you can't have a ten year old website. I mean you're you're irrelevant at that point, right? So we do have that option. But yeah, with with physical building, the d that's what I love about the digital world. It's so flexible. Unlike a physical building, you know, the digital world, even if you have a website already, we can make it accessible. We have a lot of wiggle room there.

Julie Bishop (06:18.754)
Yeah. Yeah.

Julie Bishop (06:37.302)
Obviously what you're doing is the right thing to do and there's lots of ethical reasons why we should do that. But talk to us about the commercial benefits of having an accessible website.

Denise - Access Design Studio (06:49.156)
Yeah. Well, in the US, and I apologise that I don't know the pound equivalent, but the the the you know the discretionary, the disposable income of people with disabilities is $654 billion. I mean, they have a massive spending power. And it's a really, it's a very brand loyal market because here's the thing: most of the time their experience is disregarded. People don't care. So if you show they care.

You've got a a client for life, you know, a client for life, but it's beyond that. Like if you show that you care about my brother's experience, you also have me and my mom as clients because people don't care about him or his experience. So there's a massive spending power. But you're also talking about, like I said, older people. They may not have a registered disability, but they might have some trembling hands or some low vision or some short-term memory loss. They have a huge they're a very sought-after market and they have a huge spending power.

Same with professional millennials. In the US, 30% of professional millennials have a registered disability. They are a massively sought-after market. And so that's just one aspect. The other aspect is search engines love an optimized, I mean an accessible site. If a screen reader can read it, a search engine crawler can read it.

Plus 25% more people can use the website and they want search engines want to deliver the best results for the largest number of people. plus just like I said, opening up your site to 25% more people. It's there is ROI in it.

Julie Bishop (08:25.558)
Yes, and to back up what you were saying about if somebody looks after your brother, they're looking after you, they're looking after your mother. When I worked in airlines, we were learning that people who've got disabilities tend to travel in large groups. So if you're catering to the person that's got a disability, they might be bringing five, 10 people with them. So that's a big market. So you've got to look beyond

that initial customer as well. Not only will they be loyal, but there'll be another group of people that will understand that you're caring about them as well.

Denise - Access Design Studio (09:03.196)
So true. And and the you know the the people with disabilities community is very connected because it's so limited. Their their resources are very limited that they can use. So they are very connected. If you have a fabulously accessible website, the word gets out. And you know, you say like when you say about people traveling with disabilities, I really appreciate that because

It's no it's it's not done with malice, but people don't realise that people with disabilities do everything that people with I had a client somebody come to me and they were being sued. They had a luxury jewelry website. And the guy says to me, as if a blind person needs to buy a watch. Needs a watch. I know. Yeah. And I said, people with

Julie Bishop (09:42.447)
lovely, yeah.

Denise - Access Design Studio (09:48.263)
You know, disabilities use the site just like you and I. They might be researching th they have husbands and wives and kids and parents, they're buying gifts. They might be doing research. In any way that you're using the site, they are using the site. Same with travel. People think, well, you know, I don't know, if you're blind, how do you travel? And it's not a mal this guy was malicious. Generally, it's not malice, right? It's just a lack of understanding, and that's okay. I've had somebody say to me, She was so sheepish, she goes,

I didn't know blind people used the web. And that's okay. Like education. I know it's it's it kind of blows your mind, but it's okay. If we can if we can put it out there, then we can dispel those myths, right? She wasn't malicious, she just didn't know. So people use the web.

Julie Bishop (10:28.129)
Yeah, and yet I remember the time when I was starting out in technology when there were a lot of people who had who were blind that were programmers that became a real career option with the right software it was yeah a great option and and we had a lot of people working with us that were visually impaired.

Denise - Access Design Studio (10:48.494)
I love that. Thank you for saying that. It was amazing. That the pandemic became a a kind of a boom for people with disabilities because a lot of people with disabilities are gonna be much more suited to working from home.

Julie Bishop (11:00.729)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Denise - Access Design Studio (11:01.912)
So it was a whether whether it's an autism and like an aw office environment certain kinds of autism in an office environment is too much, or it's a disability where maybe you have some fatigue and so you need to take a break when you you need to work when you can't, lots of reasons. It was really a good thing for the, you know, look, we can work at home and actually, you know, be productive. We all realise that. So that actually turned out to be a good thing for some people with disabilities.

Julie Bishop (11:25.977)
So let's hope there's people listening to us today who are saying, crikey, I haven't even looked at my website accessibility. I haven't even thought about it. I'm not malicious. I want to do the right thing. Where do I start Denise? Where do we start?

Denise - Access Design Studio (11:38.673)
Yeah.

Denise - Access Design Studio (11:44.679)
Yeah, that's that's a good question. And it does seem overwhelming and people th it's r 'cause it is technical and it's nuanced and

so you want to find a professional and pair partner with them. The first thing to do is just have somebody whi-work walk you through the your site. And you know, I can I can easily test a site for just some you know high-level things and I share my screen with people so they can see, because they're like, I wonder if my site's accessible. Unfortunately, the answer is no, if it wasn't designed and developed to be accessible. But we can get on there and say, and I can show you, because if you can actually see, like, wow.

a su my site can't be used by a keyboard and and that would be somebody that's blind or it has trembling hands, they need to use just a keyboard, no mouse. you can kind of start getting your head around it. So find somebody that is a credible accessibility professional and then you can start chipping away at accessibility over time. You can get your site accessible all at once. There are lots of options. It does seem overwhelming. So partner with somebody that can they can walk you through those.

Julie Bishop (12:45.857)
Exactly and I just want to share so I know that you can do it Denise but there's a lot of companies in the UK that also also do this often relatively small companies but they share your passion and the need to to make sure that everybody can have the experience that we want.

Denise - Access Design Studio (13:04.284)
Yeah.

Julie Bishop (13:08.483)
This podcast is all about IT making life better. When you step back, and I think you've already given us a flavour of this, what difference does accessible technology really make to people's lives?

Denise - Access Design Studio (13:25.734)
my gosh. So a friend of mine, Dr. Kirk Adams, he is blind. And he says, I was on a call with him the other week, and he says to me, Denise, every day, multiple times a day, I he was he was in a checkout process. He had researched the item, it was in his cart, he was ready to check out. You know when you have to when you put in your credit card, and in the US we have to put states. We have states like California, Wyoming, whatever.

It was not usable by screen readers. He could not choose a state. So he either had to abandon or he had to get cited help. That is not dignity. That is not dignity. If you can't, you know, check out and buy something without getting help from somebody. And this, I mean, I could go on and on, you know, people with ADHD feeling like

They've been told most their life they were stupid. You know, they were told that in their classrooms. And then when they get on a website and things are too much and they don't know why and they can't finish the process, that is not dignity. So, you know, it's it's human dignity, it's kindness, it's it's quality of life.

Julie Bishop (14:33.263)
Yeah, it's treating everybody equally, not the same, just equally. And we just, yeah, it's so important. So important. So I'm going to ask you some quick fire questions, Denise. So tell me one website that gets accessibility right.

Denise - Access Design Studio (14:46.492)
Do it.

Denise - Access Design Studio (14:53.622)
Vita Coco. They are a B Corp. and they have been committed for years and they've trained their team. It's good. And it's and it's also beautiful. For those of you who think, it has to be boring and ugly a website to be accessible, go check out Vitacoco. They're the coconut water company. Yeah.

Julie Bishop (15:11.119)
Brilliant, brilliant, thank you, thank you. And then what's one myth about accessibility that you'd love to just lose the myth?

Denise - Access Design Studio (15:21.686)
my gosh, those that those little accessibility widgets do anything at all. The ones that have the little you know icon in the bottom and you click on it and it brings up that little two bar. Like there are lots of them. They are a scam, they have been sued and lost multiple times, but their marketing is very strong and they have lots of backing. Do not they don't help people with disabilities, they don't make your site accessible, they are a nightmare. So please, if you're gonna do anything, save.

Seventy five bucks a month, take it off your site. You're wasting your money.

Julie Bishop (15:54.01)
Thank you. So is there a like an ISO or a something that people can say, right, if it's got that logo, that's a company I should work with for accessibility.

Denise - Access Design Studio (16:07.536)
The International Association of Accessibility Professionals, the IAAP,

They do training, so you can look for developers that have, you know, have been trained by them. Unfortunately, there's like no global standard. So you really want to look at reviews. You want to talk to people, ideally, because there are a lot of agencies that say they do accessibility because they they need to, but all they're doing is an automated scan. They think they're doing, they don't just know accessibility. So you really do need to do your due diligence because there's a lot out there that isn't as it seems. Yeah.

Julie Bishop (16:42.447)
Okay, cool, thank you. So people have to put it, there's no silver bullet, they've got to put a bit of work in to finding the right person and then a bit of work in to doing it. And as you said, Denise, you can work with people on a list, they don't have to fix everything on day one. can say, if you fix these five things, that gets you a long way along the journey and then design it in for the future. And then my last question is,

Denise - Access Design Studio (17:04.408)
Exactly.

Julie Bishop (17:10.199)
We always say technology can be a force for good. What does IT for good mean to you?

Denise - Access Design Studio (17:16.654)
my goodness, that's such a good question. Being in the B Corp community, I have learned so much. I mean, I'm gonna admit my ignorance. Like, I didn't realise that like even your hosting company can be, you know, environmentally responsible. Like consider the carbon output, you know, footprint of your website and and you know, you're cleaning up your tech where you're deleting all the things that don't need to be stored on a server somewhere. That's so I think

Julie Bishop (17:42.958)
Yeah.

Denise - Access Design Studio (17:45.155)
Well, I guess that's a force for not bad, right? A force for good is much like you're saying, like making sure that people can use websites, having security in place so that we can confidently use websites to do all of those business transactions that we're doing. we can spread knowledge about ways in which we can support the world in in our social justice causes.

Julie Bishop (17:47.919)
Yes.

Denise - Access Design Studio (18:10.918)
There are lots of ways. I wasn't very articulate there. That's a good question. I'll think about it more.

Julie Bishop (18:14.479)
I you brought up a really good one earlier when you were talking about Covid where it's enabling people that maybe can't come to a physical office for whatever reasons to be a full member of a team, be valued for what they bring to the team, not for what they can't bring. So it's giving the webcams, the... we don't call them webcams anymore do we? That's a very old-fashioned expression, sorry.

Denise - Access Design Studio (18:35.047)
Yeah.

Julie Bishop (18:44.035)
But using these teams or webinars and whatever, just making sure that this stuff's available much, much wider than it was to people who aren't able to travel in and to be in offices. I think it's really strong.

Denise - Access Design Studio (18:57.606)
It is and I'm sorry, you something just came to my mind. I was just in the Caribbean in a little on a little island called Dominica and there was a coral restoration center. You know, trying to restore coral because coral is really suffering worldwide. And we all right, they had a QR code right there. We were able to pull out our phones

Bring up their website and donate right then and there. That is IT as a force for good. After w after they had spent a half an hour explaining to us what they were doing, it was blowing our mind the cool things that they were doing. And immediately we were able to donate. Like that to me, bring it.

Julie Bishop (19:31.023)
Brilliant. Thank you so much. Thank you. It's been a fascinating conversation as I kind of knew it was going to be. So thank you so much. And I think we can all learn that accessibility isn't about compliance. It's about having a better experience for absolutely everybody. And whether that's somebody who's living with a disability, someone just getting a bit older, we're all getting a bit older, someone trying to use the website when they're in.

Dominica and they've got sunshine on their screen and they can't see their screen properly. Technology really can remove some of those barriers. So if anybody wants to connect with Denise, we're going to put all of her details in the show notes. And if you want to understand more about accessibility, that's a really good place to start. So thank you again for joining the IT Naturally podcast.

Denise - Access Design Studio (20:21.756)
Thank you so much for having me, Julie. I appreciate it.

Julie Bishop (20:24.559)
Thank you.

Julie Bishop (20:29.52)
cool.