Every company wants growth, and with an estimated 16% of the global population living with a disability, many digital products unintentionally turn away potential users when digital accessibility is not built into the design.
And accessibility isn’t only about people with permanent disabilities. Color blindness affects roughly 8% of men and 0.5% of women worldwide. Visual impairments increase with age. Temporary disabilities from injuries or illnesses are also very common.
It’s also about anyone using technology in less-than-perfect conditions: a parent holding a baby in one arm, an older user squinting at small text or someone trying to watch a video on their phone in bright sunlight. When digital products are designed to adapt to real life with inclusive UX in mind, more people can use them, and more people stay.
From Accessibility Obligation to Opportunity
For years, accessibility was treated as a legal box to tick. That’s changing fast. The European Accessibility Act is now in effect, establishing mandatory new standards for digital products and services. The pressure is real, but compliance shouldn’t be the main focus here.
The smarter move is to see accessibility as a growth driver. When you build inclusive products, you’re not lowering your standards; you’re expanding your market.
The gaming industry has already embraced this reality. Features like Sony’s accessibility settings and Microsoft’s Adaptive Controller were designed for inclusion but ended up improving the experience for everyone. Clear navigation, readable typography, flexible layouts and high contrast are actually core elements of accessible design.
This is the mindset shift leaders need to make: accessibility is not just an ethical imperative; it is a business advantage. Compliance might start the conversation, but leadership turns it into innovation. That principle extends far beyond gaming.
Good accessibility demands clarity. And clarity is the hallmark of great design. When teams design for screen readers and keyboard navigation, they refine structure and flow for everyone. This is design thinking in action, where solving for edge cases often improves the mainstream experience. The most successful companies treat digital accessibility as a design principle from the start, not a retrofit.
Some of the most innovative companies partner with firms such as Good Sailors, a software and UX-testing company built around neuro- and disability-diverse teams. Their approach demonstrates that when people with lived experience lead accessibility testing from the outset, they bring insights and capabilities that go far beyond compliance checklists.
We’ve seen that in practice. When STRV worked with Major League Soccer, user feedback consistently called out font size and legibility, and not only from fans with visual impairments. People wanted more control over how they read and interacted with content. That insight shaped design decisions across the product. Designing with accessibility in mind doesn’t just remove barriers; it expands who your product can reach and keep.
What Leaders Can Do Today
Accessibility doesn’t require a total rebuild, but it does require commitment. A few smart actions can set a lasting foundation:
- Start with a review. Evaluate your product against WCAG 2.2 standards. You’ll quickly see where the biggest gaps and easiest wins are.
- Prioritize high-impact fixes. Focus on what improves usability, not just compliance. Every change that helps one user likely helps many more.
- Build accessibility into your processes. Accessibility should be part of design reviews, engineering sprints and QA, not a separate workstream. Regular testing and documentation will prove ongoing dedication.
Companies making these investments now can gain a long-term advantage. Accessibility builds trust, strengthens brand reputation and grows your user base while doing the right thing.
The Leadership Mindset
Accessibility is now part of digital ethics and brand credibility. Ignoring it is as shortsighted as ignoring cybersecurity once was. The companies that will define the next decade are those building accessible products for everyone. Leading this shift takes humility and consistency: acknowledging gaps, investing in new capabilities and measuring success by inclusivity.
You can’t call your product world-class if it doesn’t work for the whole world. The question isn’t whether to prioritize accessibility. It’s whether you’ll lead the change or be forced to catch up.
