In the modern digital landscape, ensuring that websites, applications, and other digital platforms are accessible to everyone is essential for organizations. Regulations such as the ADA and the WCAG set clear standards that organizations must follow to avoid legal risks and penalties.
Beyond compliance, prioritizing accessibility enhances brand reputation, improves user experience, and expands market reach. Organizations that invest in accessibility demonstrate a commitment to inclusivity, fostering customer loyalty, and trust. However, achieving true digital accessibility requires expert guidance.
Selecting the right accessibility consulting firm is crucial to ensure the brand’s digital presence. But with numerous firms offering accessibility services, how to choose the best one?
This article will provide a walk-through of the essential factors to consider when evaluating and selecting an accessibility consulting company to help an organization meet its goals effectively.
Challenges in accessibility compliance implementation!
Ensuring digital accessibility is crucial, but achieving full compliance comes with several challenges. Some of the challenges encountered when working toward accessibility compliance are:
Understanding complex legal requirements
Accessibility laws are intricate and ever evolving. Many organizations struggle to interpret these regulations and apply them correctly to their digital products and services.
Retrofitting existing digital assets
Making legacy websites, applications, and documents accessible can be challenging. Retrofitting accessibility into an already-developed system is often more costly and time-consuming than incorporating accessibility from the start.
Lack of awareness and expertise
Many businesses lack in-house accessibility expertise. Without proper knowledge, organizations may unintentionally overlook critical accessibility issues or rely on generic solutions that do not fully meet user needs.
Budget and resource constraints
Accessibility improvements require investment in tools, training, and expert consulting. Organizations with limited budgets may deprioritize accessibility, leading to non-compliance risks and potential lawsuits.
Resistance to change
Companies may face resistance from internal teams since they might find accessibility implementation as an added burden rather than a necessity.
Ensuring continuous compliance
Accessibility is not a one-time fix – it requires continuous monitoring, testing, and updates. New content, website updates, and evolving regulations mean organizations must stay proactive in maintaining compliance.
Inconsistent testing and implementation
Relying solely on automated tools for accessibility testing can lead to incomplete results. True accessibility requires a combination of automated testing, manual audits, and real-user testing, which can be challenging to coordinate.
Overcoming these challenges
Partnering with a knowledgeable accessibility consulting company can help businesses navigate these challenges effectively. By conducting comprehensive audits, providing training, and offering ongoing support, the right consultant ensures that accessibility is integrated seamlessly into digital strategies, fostering inclusivity and compliance.
Key qualities to look for in an accessibility consulting company!
Choosing the right accessibility consulting company is essential for ensuring compliance, enhancing user experience, and fostering inclusivity. A few qualities that can be considered while looking for a firm:
Expertise in accessibility standards and regulations
A top-tier consulting company should have in-depth knowledge of accessibility laws and standards, including WCAG 2.1 and 2.2, ADA, Section 508, and other international standards.
They should also stay updated on evolving compliance requirements.
Comprehensive audit and testing services
Look for a company that offers:
Automated and manual accessibility audits to identify compliance gaps.
User testing with people with disabilities for real-world insights.
Ongoing monitoring to ensure long-term accessibility.
Experience with diverse digital platforms and tools
The right consultant should be proficient in making various digital assets accessible, including websites and web applications, mobile apps (iOS and Android), PDFs, documents, multimedia content, software and enterprise systems.
Moreover, a good consultant should be proficient in:
Leading accessibility testing tools such as Axe, WAVE, Lighthouse.
Screen readers and assistive technologies.
Accessibility plugins for common CMS platforms (WordPress, Shopify, etc.).
Customized and practical solutions
Avoid one-size-fits-all approaches. A great consulting firm will:
Tailor solutions to specific industry, business needs, and user demographics.
Provide actionable recommendations instead of generic reports.
Offer guidance on implementing accessible design from the ground up.
Training and knowledge transfer
A strong consulting partner empowers their client’s team by offering:
Accessibility training for developers, designers, and content creators.
Workshops on inclusive design best practices.
Guidelines and documentation for maintaining accessibility long-term.
Strong track record and client testimonials
Check their reputation by:
Reviewing case studies and success stories from past clients.
Looking for certifications for example: IAAP Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies – CPACC
Reading client testimonials and online reviews.
Commitment to continuous support
Accessibility is an ongoing effort. The best consulting companies offer:
Post-audit support to help with remediation.
Accessibility statements and documentation for compliance verification.
Long-term partnerships to maintain accessibility as the business evolves.
Assistance with accessibility training for the client’s team
Long-term accessibility depends on internal knowledge. An accessibility consultant must offer:
Developer training on accessible coding.
UX and design training for an inclusive experience.
Content creation best practices for accessibility.
Approach for multilingual accessibility solutions
The consultants should be able to audit and optimize content in different languages while ensuring accessibility compliance. Find more information about importance of multi-language website accessibility.
Get a realistic timeline based on the complexity of a digital asset and the required compliance level. Also, ask for a clear breakdown of costs based on the scope, level of accessibility review, and long-term support options.
Benefits of hiring the right accessibility consulting partner!
Enhances user experience for everyone
Beyond compliance, a great accessibility partner ensures the website, app, or digital product is:
Easier to navigate for people with disabilities.
Compatible with assistive technologies (screen readers, voice commands, etc.)
More intuitive for all users, improving engagement and retention.
Reduces legal risks and costs
Lawsuits related to digital inaccessibility are rising. A trusted consultant helps:
Identify and fix compliance gaps proactively.
Reduce the risk of lawsuits, penalties, and settlements.
Provide proper documentation and an accessibility statement to demonstrate good faith efforts.
Provides tailored and scalable solutions
A top-tier consultant customizes accessibility strategies to fit their clients’:
Industry-specific needs such as healthcare, ecommerce, and finance.
Business size and digital assets (websites, apps, PDFs, videos, etc.)
Long-term growth strategy, ensuring scalable and sustainable accessibility.
Stronger brand equity, customer loyalty, and increased market reach
By making a digital platform accessible, organizations tap into a larger segment of audience including 1.3 billion (approx.) people with disabilities, older adults, and users with temporary impairments. Accessibility shows a brand’s commitment to creating a better digital world and helps build a robust brand name among users.
It creates positive word-of-mouth from the existing users, resulting in businesses get more projects including government contracts.
Enhanced SEO and improved digital accessibility
Accessibility best practices such as adding alt text to images, transcripts to videos, correct heading structure, etc. align with SEO best practices and improve digital visibility.
Build a culture of accessibility and streamline the process
The consultants educate organizations’ in-house teams about accessibility in order to maintain the accessibility status of digital assets. This helps align business with ethical practices of inclusivity and contributes to a more inclusive digital world.
Moreover, their expertise sets a well-organized process for making websites or applications accessible.
Combination of testing
Organizations get a chance to leverage various testing methods to ensure consistent accessibility status. Consultants implement automated testing tools, execute manual testing and if needed, perform user testing for a comprehensive approach.
Ongoing support
Accessibility consultants provide ongoing accessibility support and keep updating digital assets for evolving accessibility standards. They identify and resolve potential issues proactively, mitigating the risk of rework in the future.
Most importantly, overall user retention and conversion rates are an added advantage for organizations that own accessible websites.
Skynet Technologies stands out as an accessibility consulting partner – How?
With numerous accessibility consulting firms available, Skynet Technologies sets itself apart by offering a holistic, future-ready approach to digital accessibility. More than just compliance experts with 10+ years of experience, we serve as a right accessibility remediation service provider, ensuring businesses achieve not only legal compliance but also long-term inclusivity and seamless user experiences.
We are unique because:
- We offer comprehensive and multi-layered accessibility audits.
- Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, we create customized accessibility plans for our clients.
- We specialize in integrating accessibility solutions into diverse platforms.
- Our team excels in delivering multilingual accessibility solution.
- With the rise of video and interactive content, we offer AI-powered and human-verified captioning, transcripts, audio descriptions, accessible PDFs, and other infographics.
- We structure accessibility costs based on important facets of accessibility implementation and remediation.
- We provide ongoing monitoring and compliance updates.
- And last but not least, we believe in a human-first approach to accessibility.
Here is how we elevated accessibility for an Italian leather atelier, one of our California-based ecommerce accessibility remediation solution clients improved their business after accessibility implementation, and there are many other such successful examples.
Also, read what our happy customers say about us!
In a nutshell,
Selecting the right accessibility consultant is a crucial decision that impacts not only legal compliance but also user experience, brand reputation, and inclusivity. We as a website accessibility consultants, goes beyond just identifying compliance gaps – they provide practical, long-term solutions that integrate seamlessly into the organization’s digital strategy. For more information, reach out [email protected].
