{"id":185,"date":"2024-04-12T17:40:27","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T17:40:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theboost.fm\/?p=185"},"modified":"2024-04-12T18:30:16","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T18:30:16","slug":"episode-7-accessibility-on-the-internet-with-a-special-guest-from-accessibe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theboost.fm\/episode-7-accessibility-on-the-internet-with-a-special-guest-from-accessibe\/","title":{"rendered":"Episode 7 \u2013 Accessibility on the Internet with a Special Guest from Accessibe"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading185_2ea64d-61, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading185_2ea64d-61[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading185_2ea64d-61\"]{font-style:normal;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading185_2ea64d-61 mark, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading185_2ea64d-61[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading185_2ea64d-61\"] mark{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}<\/style>\n<p class=\"kt-adv-heading185_2ea64d-61 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading185_2ea64d-61\">In this episode of The Boost, hosts Leon Hitchens and Pablo delve into internet accessibility. They discuss the significant gap in accessible web content and the impact of this shortfall on individuals with disabilities. With a special guest, Alexandra Britez from AccessiBe, they explore solutions and the importance of making the web more inclusive.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading185_51c13f-56, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading185_51c13f-56[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading185_51c13f-56\"]{font-style:normal;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading185_51c13f-56 mark, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading185_51c13f-56[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading185_51c13f-56\"] mark{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}<\/style>\n<h3 class=\"kt-adv-heading185_51c13f-56 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading185_51c13f-56\"><strong>Hosts:&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo Calvo:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/pablocalvo322\/\">Linkedin<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon Hitchens:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/leonhitchens\/\">Linkedin<\/a>&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/leonhitchens\">X<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alexandra Britez from Accessibe:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/accessibe.com\/\">Accessible Website<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Episode 7 - Accessibility on the Internet with a Special Guest from Accessibe\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SEHa3ykSlb4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading185_f11cc0-ba, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading185_f11cc0-ba[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading185_f11cc0-ba\"]{font-style:normal;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading185_f11cc0-ba mark, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading185_f11cc0-ba[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading185_f11cc0-ba\"] mark{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}<\/style>\n<h3 class=\"kt-adv-heading185_f11cc0-ba wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading185_f11cc0-ba\">Podcast:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<iframe style=\"border-radius:12px\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/6jhbH2UPIyo7XRPrbyWxST?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameBorder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n<style>.kb-row-layout-id185_bc2b2d-20 > 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.kt-blocks-accordion-header{border-top:0px solid #f2f2f2;border-right:0px solid #f2f2f2;border-bottom:0px solid #f2f2f2;border-left:0px solid #f2f2f2;}.kt-accordion-id185_a3c608-d3 .kt-accordion-header-wrap .kt-blocks-accordion-header:hover, body:not(.hide-focus-outline) .kt-accordion-id185_a3c608-d3 .kt-accordion-header-wrap .kt-blocks-accordion-header:focus{border-top-color:#eeeeee;border-top-style:solid;border-right-color:#eeeeee;border-right-style:solid;border-bottom-color:#eeeeee;border-bottom-style:solid;border-left-color:#eeeeee;border-left-style:solid;}.kt-accordion-id185_a3c608-d3 .kt-accordion-header-wrap .kt-blocks-accordion-header.kt-accordion-panel-active{border-top-color:#444444;border-top-style:solid;border-right-color:#444444;border-right-style:solid;border-bottom-color:#444444;border-bottom-style:solid;border-left-color:#444444;border-left-style:solid;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-accordion alignnone\"><div class=\"kt-accordion-wrap kt-accordion-id185_a3c608-d3 kt-accordion-has-2-panes kt-active-pane-0 kt-accordion-block kt-pane-header-alignment-left kt-accodion-icon-style-basic kt-accodion-icon-side-right\" style=\"max-width:none\"><div class=\"kt-accordion-inner-wrap\" data-allow-multiple-open=\"false\" data-start-open=\"none\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-pane kt-accordion-pane kt-accordion-pane-1 kt-pane185_8d976e-85\"><div class=\"kt-accordion-header-wrap\"><button class=\"kt-blocks-accordion-header kt-acccordion-button-label-show\"><span class=\"kt-blocks-accordion-title-wrap\"><span class=\"kt-blocks-accordion-title\">Show  Notes<\/span><\/span><span class=\"kt-blocks-accordion-icon-trigger\"><\/span><\/button><\/div><div class=\"kt-accordion-panel kt-accordion-panel-hidden\"><div class=\"kt-accordion-panel-inner\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Hosts:&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Pablo Calvo:&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/pablocalvo322\/\">Linkedin<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Leon Hitchens:<\/strong>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/leonhitchens\/\">Linkedin<\/a>&nbsp;&amp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/leonhitchens\">&nbsp;X<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Find Us:&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>YouTube:<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@TheBoostChannel\"><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@TheBoostChannel<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Spotify:&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/2AHGT1Aoq9oAHZEHeORBpa?si=1cea25e611bb4ec6\">https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/2AHGT1Aoq9oAHZEHeORBpa?si=1cea25e611bb4ec6<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Apple Podcasts:<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-boost\/id1720047128\"><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-boost\/id1720047128<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Facebook:<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheBoostChannel\">&nbsp;https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheBoostChannel<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Website:<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/theboost.fm\/\">&nbsp;https:\/\/theboost.fm&nbsp;<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Points Discussed:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Introduction to the Issue of Accessibility:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>The internet\u2019s accessibility rate is alarmingly low, with only 2-5% of websites being accessible.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Approximately 15% of the world\u2019s population lives with some form of disability, making web accessibility a significant concern.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Personal Impact and the Importance of Keyboard Navigation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Leon shares his personal experience with web navigation due to his physical disability, emphasizing the need for keyboard navigation and accessible web design.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Legal and SEO Implications:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>The podcast touches on the legal implications for businesses not adhering to accessibility standards, including potential lawsuits.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Accessibility improvements can lead to better SEO performance, with up to a 12% impact on SEO results.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AccessiBe\u2019s Role in Enhancing Web Accessibility:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Alexandra Britez discusses AccessiBe\u2019s mission to make the internet more accessible through AI and machine learning technologies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>AccessiBe provides tools and solutions to address a wide range of disabilities, including vision impairments, cognitive disabilities, and motor impairments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Business Case for Accessibility:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Making websites accessible can increase market reach and ensure compliance with legal standards.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Accessibility is not only a social responsibility but also a smart business decision, with potential financial incentives for small businesses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Success Stories and the Future of Accessibility:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>The conversation highlights success stories of businesses that have improved their web accessibility, benefiting from increased customer engagement and legal protection.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Final Thoughts and Resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>The hosts conclude by encouraging listeners to consider the broader impact of web accessibility and to explore tools like AccessiBe to make their websites more inclusive.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Resources Mentioned:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>AccessiBe Website:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/accessibe.com\/\">accessibe.com<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Free website audit for accessibility compliance available at AccessiBe\u2019s website.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Closing Remarks:&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This episode underscores the critical need for web accessibility and the role businesses, and developers can play in creating a more inclusive digital world. With insights from Alexandra Britez and the discussion on the importance of accessibility for all users, we encouraged all website owners to take actionable steps toward making their online content accessible to everyone.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-pane kt-accordion-pane kt-accordion-pane-2 kt-pane185_9d8186-e9\"><div class=\"kt-accordion-header-wrap\"><button class=\"kt-blocks-accordion-header kt-acccordion-button-label-show\"><span class=\"kt-blocks-accordion-title-wrap\"><span class=\"kt-blocks-accordion-title\">Transcript<\/span><\/span><span class=\"kt-blocks-accordion-icon-trigger\"><\/span><\/button><\/div><div class=\"kt-accordion-panel kt-accordion-panel-hidden\"><div class=\"kt-accordion-panel-inner\">\n<p>Leon (00:00):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Welcome to the next episode of The Boost. My name\u2019s Leon Hitchens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (00:02):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m Pablo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon (00:03):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today we\u2019re at Geekdom and we\u2019re talking something near and dear to me, accessibility on the internet<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (00:16):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For joining us. Guys. Today we\u2019re going to talk about accessibility. And I know that this is a really important topic for Leon, which we\u2019ll get into, but it\u2019s going to be a little bit different this time. We\u2019re going to have our normal conversational format, but we will also be inviting a guest, Alexandra Britez, with AccessiBe, to talk about their goals of making the internet more accessible worldwide. So Leon, I know that this isn\u2019t something that you necessarily talk about or promote often, but it\u2019s clearly something that you\u2019re impacted by. I was just thinking maybe we could talk about how, I don\u2019t know, technology is sometimes made more difficult for you being that you\u2019re in the space and you\u2019re a leader in the space, but you still struggle with some things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon (01:07):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, I think the biggest part in the backstory is I\u2019ve got two good fingers on one hand, and I have another hand. Big part is mouses. Mice are not really built for me, especially being right-handed dominant. So what I rely on a lot is keyboard navigation on websites, so tabs and even just special wands that accessiBe offers a lot of that\u2019s actually built for folks that are blind. It\u2019s pretty useful. But the big part, and this is kind of contested, is how much of the website or the internet is accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(01:47):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s somewhere in the range of two to 5%, which is abysmal, it\u2019ss, super small. It\u2019s super low. And when you think about accessibility, somebody with a disability, we\u2019re talking, most people jump to missing arms, legs, blind hearing loss, stuff like that. But there\u2019s so much more nuance to it. Sure. We\u2019ve got a stat here. It\u2019s approximately 15% of the world population, over a billion people live with some form of a disability. And the United States, that accounts for about, I think 20% that data comes from the World Bank. So it is a lot of people. And to have only a small slice of the internet support, this is kind of astonishing. I know Google\u2019s pushed it a lot. Searching and optimization is a big part of accessibility. ALT tags be able to screen read down, but there\u2019s a lot more there that I don\u2019t think people realize or understand is there, and Google Lighthouse touches on it. It talks about accessibility, it gives you you a score, but the standards that are out there, which is It\u2019s the WCAG. Yeah, WCAG, the acronyms 2.0,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (03:08):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s right. Yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon (03:10):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s the best one out there. But it\u2019s also not codified into law, the a a, the Americans with Disability Act, the law, and it never really had a internet component to it. I think it was passed in the 1990s, first Bush, right? Yep. So first Bush passed it through, changed America, really set all this stuff out with people for disabilities in the physical realm. Justice Department has talked about it. They\u2019ve referenced that WCAG, they\u2019ve referenced that. They\u2019ve said that\u2019s kind of like the de facto law, but that WCAG doesn\u2019t really say what you have to do, and that\u2019s where the challenge comes from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (03:54):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, and it\u2019s interesting too is that in our day job, when we build websites, we\u2019ve recommended to multiple clients like, Hey, you should really consider making your website accessible. Well, we\u2019re changing the way we\u2019re operating now with our clients. It\u2019s no longer a choice. It\u2019s either you do it or you have to sign a waiver. And there\u2019s a reason for it. I mean, from a business owner standpoint, not to use scare tactics, but they\u2019re very real. People are being sued, businesses are being impacted every single day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon (04:30):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And not just the big ones either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (04:31):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not just the big ones. No, I mean small businesses. I mean, if you have a website, your website is considered public domain as if you had an office. So if somebody visits your website and it\u2019s not accessible, you can be sued for not allowing all users access, equal access your business. I mean, in effect, and unfortunately, there are some bad actors out there that are out there suing, not necessarily because they\u2019re trying to help make the internet more accessible. They\u2019re obviously taking advantage of the marketplace, but it\u2019s still a fact. If someone isn\u2019t accessible, if somebody can\u2019t use your website, you can become a target in that. When we started working with Accessible, the goal was to be able to educate our customers to just make it a priority. And I used to always say very early on that this does or will have an impact on SEO, because the whole goal of Google is to be able to make the internet accessible to everyone, not necessarily from for people with disabilities, but just in general. And accessibility did share some information with us that there is an impact to SEO results upwards of 12%. I can\u2019t validate that information, but I can say it makes a lot of sense. I mean, in the end, if you\u2019re shutting off the internet to people that can consume your information and then they can\u2019t do it, well, they\u2019re not engaging with your content online. It\u2019s going to impact your numbers. Right. It\u2019s<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon (06:15):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>User experience. It\u2019s user experience. Exactly. I found some stats on that, so I will put them in the show notes, but it says that around 71% of users with some sort of disability will immediately leave a website if it\u2019s not accessible. And then two, when we talk to business owners, one of the things that I\u2019ve mentioned is this isn\u2019t just somebody with disabilities. We\u2019ve got an aging population all over the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (06:39):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Very much so. Absolutely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon (06:42):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As you age, your eyes go,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (06:46):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I got these two years ago, I know exactly what that means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon (06:49):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And a lot of times that means blowing up text on your phone and all of that. That\u2019s an accessibility feature in the end. So in the business owner\u2019s perspective, it\u2019s not just somebody with a disability, not just getting sued. There\u2019s a social responsibility of like, Hey, you might not have a disability. You might not be impacted at it right now, but if you\u2019re building for a good internet and a good web, you\u2019re probably going to help a good portion of your users. You\u2019re also going to be able to reach more people. You\u2019re going to have an impact to increase your potential market size if a grocery store opens up. Accessibility. I\u2019m kind of interested to go look at grocery websites like Walmart here in Texas, HEB I am curious to see if they have accessibility features built in to there. That is a really huge market, and they are at the core, a public place, public good. And those lawsuits like Target, Harvard, all of the big ones have been sued, but also in San Antonio was the west side of town. I think Mexican restaurants, they\u2019re a dime a dozen here, but they\u2019re all delicious,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (08:02):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Right? They\u2019re popular for a reason<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon (08:05):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And they were getting sued. And a $10,000 lawsuit is disruptive and it\u2019s hard to deal with, and<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (08:14):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It can break a back for a small business, I mean as small of a nominal amount as they may seem. It\u2019s not small or nominal for everyone. Exactly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon (08:21):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So there\u2019s two parts here. It\u2019s as a small business owner looking at the risk, looking at the social responsibility, and then looking at the potential market, I think the SEO portion of this is the most interesting because accessibility is showing up on Google Lighthouse. Google says accessibility is there. They don\u2019t outline it as well as well, just like the federal government, they don\u2019t really outline it that well. They don\u2019t say what you need to do, but they do outline it. And in ESA B, they\u2019ve followed the WCAG, and then they\u2019ve also followed other standards that are out there. And then they\u2019ve put in a bunch of things. So if you\u2019re blind, if you\u2019ve got a hearing loss or you don\u2019t have any hearing, you\u2019re deaf. If you cannot use a mouse or a keyboard, there\u2019s a lot of stuff out there that\u2019s being accommodated for. So it is on a business side, I understand it. And most of the time if we, I\u2019ve talked to other WordPress developers, there\u2019s a portion of people that just don\u2019t understand it, don\u2019t know what\u2019s needed. And then the other portion, they want to charge extra to build and develop those features. So some people go, ah, we\u2019ll take the risk and not build those out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (09:40):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, I\u2019ll just share one story. So we built a website for a client probably five years ago, six years ago, pardon me. And that client spent a fair fee to have the website built. And then about two years after we built it, another company came in to make that website accessible. They didn\u2019t rebuild everything. They just simply added the code base that needed to be added to the core HTML that we had for the site to make the website accessibly compliant. And the issue there was that the cost for that service was almost double what we charged to build it originally. So this isn\u2019t something that necessarily is cheap, which obviously works against someone that has a good heart, wants to make their website accessible, maybe didn\u2019t do it on the front end, so it ends up being more expensive. So anyway, accessibility allows you to add code to your site, an existing site to take components on that website to make them accessible. So it takes care of a lot of the components that need to be addressed without having to go in and reinvent the wheel. While I do think that it is a good practice to just simply build a website fully accessible from the beginning, that\u2019s why we started working withe, because we feel like the tools are allowing the smaller business owners that don\u2019t necessarily have the budget to rebuild their website. The goal in the end is to be able to become accessible without necessarily spending a ton of money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(12:18):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Absolutely. So<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(13:00):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s an insurance plan. I mean, in the end, you\u2019re insuring yourself against the possibility because in the end, if you are sued, you just have to prove that you\u2019re making a reasonable effort, right? It is a reasonable effort. I mean, no one can say, look, I added this tool to make my website accessible. And if someone tries to litigate, they can\u2019t make the argument that you didn\u2019t attempt to address it. If there\u2019s things that still need to be addressed, good, you get an opportunity to handle those things. So I think in general, besides the legal ramifications, look, let\u2019s just think of it from a standpoint of just being a good citizen, right? I mean, you want, the number is roughly 20, what was it? 27% of Americans?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon (13:46):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. I think the conservative number that you get from the American disabilities is 21%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (13:53):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Okay? What I had seen from the cdc.gov was that 27% of Americans are considered to have some type of disability. I mean, that\u2019s more than one in four. I mean, you would never in your right mind have a business that ignores over a quarter of the population. You just wouldn\u2019t<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon (14:15):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do it. And I\u2019m looking at the tool right now. There\u2019s seizure safe profile. I would\u2019ve never even thought of that. No, I don\u2019t. I see it on tv like, Hey, there might be flashing lights and seizures that that\u2019s a hidden disability. You would never know. There is vision impaired profiles. Obviously, that\u2019s maybe a bad way to say it, but that\u2019s something you can kind of tell. You can see you have ADHD friendly profile, more focused, fewer distractions. That\u2019s another hidden disability that I wouldn\u2019t have considered a disability off the top of my head, but it can be. And it is. There\u2019s cognitive disability profiles, reading and focusing kind of tied into that. ADHD. There\u2019s keyboard navigation with loader. That\u2019s what I use a lot. And then there\u2019s blind users, which are screen readers, and then they have other things like highlight titles, highlight links, text magnifier, align center, left, adjust Line Heights, contrast changing saturation is making it monochromatic. If you\u2019re colorblind. These are all things that I don\u2019t think a lot of people would consider disability colorblindness, A DHD, but it is, and it impacts you on a website that has animations, that has things that are moving and bothering you. If a lot of times, my big gripe is everyone sets the web font to 14, and I\u2019m like, I wanted it 18 or 20. I<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (15:45):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Can\u2019t stand that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon (15:46):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. I\u2019m like,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (15:47):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Especially on mobile is terrible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon (15:50):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes. Even though phones have gotten bigger, the pixel density is higher, and I feel like the text keeps getting more small, but first<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (15:58):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of all, anyone\u2019s coating with pixels anymore. It\u2019s REMS people. rems, not pixels. But anyway, that\u2019s another topic<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon (16:05):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stuck in our ways, but it is a lot more than people consider, and it is a lot of things that you wouldn\u2019t call this disability, but I think you said it was called a 10 Y.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (16:19):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh, it\u2019s a 11 YA 11 y ally. Ally, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon (16:23):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Is you\u2019re just being a good person and you want to make accommodations for people, and it\u2019s not going to inconvenience you. You\u2019re also going to be able to reach more market, protect yourself from lawsuits, and then I\u2019m sure as a small business, you\u2019re going to be able to then have people go, oh my gosh, thank you for having a seizure safe profile. Thank you for having ability, ability to zoom in, text my father at the restaurants. That\u2019s always his gripe on his phone. His fonts are huge, but I\u2019m like, okay. And if he runs across a website that doesn\u2019t let the font go to the system font, he\u2019s off. He\u2019s like, I don\u2019t want to deal with reading this tiny stuff. So it\u2019s more than just what people think,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (17:11):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Right? Well, look, I mean, just recently we had a Super Bowl 58. One of the bigger advertisers on there was Google. They have a Google Frame phone that allows people that are vision impaired to take photos that are in focus, and they\u2019re able to just be more, I guess, participatory and in just normal everyday activities that we all take for granted. So Google is now releasing a product that is at its core and has an accessible feature or is intended for accessibility. So this goes to show you that this is not just a, Hey, let\u2019s just make technology applicable to a very large swath of the population just because it\u2019s a cool thing to do. Look, it\u2019s good business at the end of the day, and it\u2019s just you take your leads from what\u2019s happening in the marketplace, but I feel like at the very end, you want to be a leader for the right reasons. So if we talk more about the products, we\u2019re probably going to have a very, very long conversation. We\u2019re going to have Alexandra Britez talk to us to give us AccessiBe\u2019s perspective on what they\u2019re doing to solve the accessibility gap in the marketplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(18:38):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alexandra Britez, welcome to the Boost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alexandra Britez (18:40):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you for having me. I\u2019m really excited, really excited to talk a little bit more about accessibility, and thank you so much for having me. I\u2019m really excited to just educate everyone a little bit more about accessibility and talk about the tool itself and our mission, and really excited to just spread more awareness as well. This is a really important topic that needs to be discussed more often than it usually does on a day-to-day basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (19:11):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I completely agree. The interesting thing about this conversation is for me, from my perspective, just hoping to promote awareness is that for the large part in the business world, people not only are not aware, but they\u2019re not really educated on things that may not personally affect them. So because out of sight, out of mind kind of thing. So from my perspective, accessibility in my past life, I used to work quite a bit in user experience, and it was my first kind of inner engagement, I guess with accessibility as a topic, looking at user experience and then thinking about the diversity of what a user actually is. A user is not just one type of user, it\u2019s every user. And because of that diversity, you have to think about how people are impacted and building websites now for over the past 20 plus years, it\u2019s become much more of a topic, and really it seems to be more prevalent with businesses that work with governments or the federal government, but it feels like this should be something that everyone has a website or any type of digital medium should be considering. So thank you so much for joining us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alexandra Britez (20:39):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, definitely. I\u2019m very excited. And I think to just kind of piggyback off what you\u2019re saying, for me, I think when it became super prevalent was just during the pandemic and covid itself, your entire life was revolved around being in the internet more than ever from grocery shopping, job interviews, working, socializing, or making any kind of transaction was based on the internet. And I think I thought to myself, wow, I am doing everything online and I am so lucky to be able to access everything, but for people that couldn\u2019t, I couldn\u2019t even imagine trying to navigate my day-to-Day during Covid. And it kind of made me realize that that\u2019s always been the case. It\u2019s not just that moment in time. It\u2019s always been the case since the internet was invented for anyone that has any kind of disability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (21:33):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sure, absolutely. And I\u2019m just thinking for maybe people that have mobility issues, they can\u2019t really leave their home as freely as others. So the internet is kind of the connection to the outside world. And then if you have those connections, but they\u2019re not really considering your needs, that\u2019s got to be terribly frustrating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alexandra Britez (21:56):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And I think one of the kind of craziest stats out there that I actually didn\u2019t even realize before I started working here is that only 3% of the Internet\u2019s accessible 3%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon (22:09):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that part is just how big the internet is. And to see 3%, it\u2019s a small slice of it. And I think what the CDC says, it\u2019s like 27% of Americans live with some sort of visibility. And in the prerecord with Pablo and I, we were talking about things that I don\u2019t think everyone talks about. It\u2019s like as you age, your eyesight just starts to go and you want to increase that font from 18 to 24. So I think there\u2019s a lot of other little parts that people kind of out of sight out of mind, they don\u2019t think it\u2019ll impact them, but at some point in time, there is going to be somebody who\u2019s their grandparents or their parents that might have something. So it\u2019s not just impacting somebody with an issue, but it\u2019s also impacting just everybody living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alexandra Britez (23:02):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, no, definitely. And I think one of the big things, I think there is a big misunderstanding. There\u2019s a lot of solutions and extensions out there, and a lot of them only solve for font size and color. They kind of disregard other disabilities. And I guess one of the main ones that the WCAG talk about the most is obviously blind people using screen readers, motor impaired, using keyboard navigation, epilepsy, color blindness, cognitive and learning disabilities, visual impairments. And a lot of tools that are out there are just kind of utilizing just font size and color when there\u2019s so much more to solve out there. So you\u2019re a hundred percent correct. There\u2019s way more than just what we think a disability is when we\u2019re trying to access a site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon (23:54):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A hundred percent. The epilepsy, something I didn\u2019t think about, and I don\u2019t generally have to think about, but I do see it on a TV show of, Hey, bright lights flashing. And I\u2019ve seen websites with bright lights and fat flashing, and it\u2019s never dawned on me. So just I think part of this too, and accessibility is thinking about others around you and just how they use things, how people are interacting with it and being the good citizen is. But you did mention the standards. There\u2019s the WCAG, I know there\u2019s ADA, which is the overarching one, and then there\u2019s I think two or three other ones like the S 5 0 8 that pop up. But what does SSE follow, and then how does all of these standards come together within your tool?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alexandra Britez (24:47):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, I guess I\u2019ll kind of start with a little bit of a background on access. So our founders, well Access was founded back in 2018. Our founders were basically realizing that making sites accessible were costly, very time consuming, there\u2019s tons of maintenance involved. And for a small business, it\u2019s almost impossible to basically afford a solution like that or have any kind of manual remediation. So what we actually did was launch something called Access Widget. So it\u2019s the first ever AI machine learning software that was developed with the understanding that business owners need a solution that is simple, affordable, and of course achieves compliance. So the product was actually developed over the course of two years side by side with people with disabilities. So a lot of \u2019em are leading experts in accessibility and assistive technologies. And now in 2024, we have over 247,000 customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon (25:54):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s impressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alexandra Britez (25:56):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And just to kind of dig a little bit deeper into the WCG for people as familiar, the WCGA compliant level is the global accepted standard. And basically what it means is it\u2019s in a thousand page guidebook explaining what accessible sites look and operate like with people with disabilities. As I mentioned earlier, it\u2019s blind users using screen readers, keyboard navigation for motor impairments, epilepsy, blindness, and learning disabilities. And it\u2019s also really important to note that keyboard navigation and screen readers actually make up 80% of the WCHE requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (26:46):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So let me ask you a question. As far as excessively is concerned in terms of addressing this problem, as far as the business world is concerned, the adoption rate at least increasing, do you see that it\u2019s more of a common conversation? This is an example, this is now three years ago, and I know that you\u2019re in New York, right? Yes. So there was a client that I had, or we actually still have that is in Manhattan, and they had a website built with us. This was probably in 2018 or so, about two years later, maybe 20 20, 20 21, maybe three years later, there was another company that was doing accessibility remediation and did a proposal and they began engaging with that client. And just to throw numbers out, just so you\u2019re aware, we built that website for a price tag of about $3,500. And it was a very functional website for very specific things that they needed from just a PR and press perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(28:07):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But they had some elements that were not properly accessible. What the accessibility remediation business that came in charged seven, $500 to make it fully accessible. And just to give people an idea of really, and obviously cost will range from inexpensive to expensive in any business, but I don\u2019t believe that accessibility remediation is one of those areas where people will skim out on. So the price tag does go up and look in a place like New York where it\u2019s one of the states where being sued for not having accessible websites or not being accessible in any medium for that matter, physical or otherwise. But the thing is that cost was significantly more than what we had charged. And while we are using tools that are bringing in more of the accessible commentary into the development conversation like Aria labels on a web build, those are starting to become more and more integrated into web tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(29:14):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, most people don\u2019t know how to use them. There\u2019s not like an instruction set or manual of what are the best practices to be able to do that. So most of the time what ends up happening is people just ignore it and then they still remain with that risk. What I have found is in our business, when we work with a client, we inform them of the risk. We offer them the ability to work with necessity, and it sort of takes care of the issues upfront as opposed to waiting until someone notifies them that they\u2019ve actively become victims of a lawsuit. And that\u2019s the way I see it. It\u2019s a value add from the standpoint of protection. But also, I mean, at the end of the day, I mean, we want to make sure that the market is accessible to everyone if you\u2019re selling a product or service. And I think the note that really kind of jumped out to me as far as inaccessibility in the marketplace is that 27% of the population is affected with some type of disability. So if 27% of the population is affected, that means that only 73% of the population is available to you for selling a product market or service. So it seems to me that that would be logical that you would want to open up to every possible user that you could potentially sell services to. I mean, would you agree that that\u2019s a fairly logical statement?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alexandra Britez (30:49):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh, a hundred percent. And I think just to kind of piggyback off of that, the three main reasons why people decide to become accessible is ROI, the disability community has $8 trillion in disposable income, but some of them can\u2019t even access a site. And I know myself, I hate to admit it, I am a huge online shopper. I was never a big online shopper before. And I will spend money, and I\u2019m a huge brand loyalist. There\u2019s a lot of people that don\u2019t even have that opportunity because they can\u2019t access their website. So you\u2019re losing out on business brand loyalists, people that will really ride for your brand and reputation. So you\u2019re missing out on all that ROI. But another big thing to note too is a lot of companies also do it for DEI reasons. One big thing that I even heard last week was even for hiring, don\u2019t you want to be able to attract different kinds of talent and even let someone apply to your a job opening that you have on your site? I think that\u2019s huge. So R-O-I-D-I and mitigating risk have always been the top three reasons why people decide to become accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (32:02):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I have a question for you. Could you maybe share some success stories, maybe not necessarily dropping company names if you choose not to, but would you be able to share a success story in the space using accessive?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alexandra Britez (32:17):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, I think I\u2019ll do kind of more like a general one. I\u2019m not really allowed to disclose,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (32:23):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, I understand that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alexandra Britez (32:25):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I think just one big one that I think about all the time is even having access. I think we work with a lot of people in healthcare, tons of people in healthcare, and I think for them, they obviously treat all types of patients when they come into the office. But I think one big thing when we\u2019re talking to maybe a surgeon or a specialist, one thing they forget about is because their entire life revolves around helping other people and doing their job, not necessarily updating their website or maybe doing certain things. They forget that there\u2019s, although there\u2019s customers or clients or patients that they have in front of them that they can treat, there\u2019s a lot that can\u2019t even access their site for them to get new potential patients. And I think that for me is it\u2019s so valuable. I know for me, whenever I have any kind of specialist or doctor one, you have a special bond with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(33:24):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Basically your livelihood is in their hands. But I think healthcare in general, I think it\u2019s so important to be able to give that access to people that can\u2019t even book an appointment on your site. But there\u2019s tons and tons of other success stories too, with maybe brick and mortar stores that became online businesses during the pandemic that are small businesses that decided to start selling things online and they have more customers coming to their site because it\u2019s more accessible. And another thing to note too is making your site accessible does increase SEO by 12%. So you\u2019re putting yourself in front of a lot more people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (34:12):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That was a point that actually stood out to me because I have been making, and Leon knows, I\u2019ve mentioned to him years ago, I said, I know that accessibility has an impact on user experience. So if it has an impact on user experience, it has to have an impact search engine optimization. And the facts just weren\u2019t really promoted by Google or any of the major search engines, so I really couldn\u2019t make those claims. But 12%, I mean, that\u2019s a significant, I guess, increase in user engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alexandra Britez (34:50):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, no, definitely. SEMrush actually did the study back a couple of years ago. They have some amazing stats that they came out with too, and they kind of go more in depth into it as well. But I know it\u2019s something that I actually didn\u2019t even know until I started working here too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (35:10):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah. So lemme ask you that question then. What brought you to accessible?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alexandra Britez (35:15):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, I guess I kind of think back on the last couple of jobs that I\u2019ve had, and they\u2019ve been great tools, but they\u2019re not changing the world in any way. I hope my old employers don\u2019t listen to this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (35:34):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They might agree with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alexandra Britez (35:35):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, it\u2019s not doing anything groundbreaking for everyone, it\u2019s just doing something kind of maybe groundbreaking for their specific industry. And in this instance, we\u2019re working with all types of people all over the world trying to do something better. And like I mentioned, I think the biggest shock for me was just the fact that only 3% of websites are accessible. I think that\u2019s insane because we live day to day on the internet, on our phones, on our laptops. And I know obviously I mentioned Covid earlier, but a lot of that got passed down to the now too. People are still working remotely, people are still spending getting groceries delivered to their home. But I think that\u2019s been the big thing. It\u2019s just a great mission trying to make websites more accessible for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (36:32):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I would agree. Leon, do you have any additional comments?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon (36:37):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No. The one thing is the keyboard navigation. I use it a lot. Normal mouse is not great. Then Microsoft has to those mobility ones, they\u2019ve done a lot of accessibility and there\u2019s a big push for that, I think post covid, but a lot of people shop online. There\u2019s a lot of that. So I do appreciate when I come across a site that got a SES ae or they got keyboard navigation because it lets me keep my hands on the keyboard and not have to fiddle with a track pad or a specialized mouse. But just hearing all of it from the increase in SEO, I think you guys have some other stats too, in terms of increase in organic traffic, it was 50% up. Those are some really good metrics for a small business that went online. I\u2019ve seen even plant stores go online and you can\u2019t even press the checkout with a keyboard navigation or tab over in the fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(37:34):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And that\u2019s one of the most infuriating things to see that because I\u2019m like, oh man, let me navigate. And then it doesn\u2019t click in the right spot. But I think it\u2019s like that moral kind of obligation of just being around and being helpful around you. It\u2019s the same thing as putting a ramp into your building. And that\u2019s what these business owners have to start considering is, Hey, do I have that ramp into my building? Do I have stairs that might not be there? And if I do, hey, there\u2019s a label somewhere that says, Hey, there\u2019s flashing lights. Hey, there\u2019s a lot of colors, stuff like that. I just think putting it out there is really good, and I think it\u2019s a cause and seeing necessity, shepherd that along and talk about it, pull these stats and kind of frame it in, not just that doing good on the internet, but also you\u2019re opening up business space, you\u2019re opening up more SEO, and then you\u2019re just getting more business, I think is going to encourage a lot of these business owners to kind of think of it, frame it, and then talk about that ROI. Because in the end, a business just needs to see how does investing in something no matter what it is there. I know on the side that I think 21 or 22 was the biggest year of lawsuits for a DA and California and New York. There is some fear behind that, but it\u2019s not the driving force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(39:00):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, exactly. And just to kind of piggyback on what you\u2019re saying too, we work with tons of small businesses. We work with some enterprise, but I would say a majority of people that work with us are small businesses. And a lot of those small businesses, kind of Pablo and experience that you had years ago, they got a quote from manual remediation and kind of freaked out because it\u2019s more than what they expected. And I think it\u2019s also just important to know that I think actually a lot of small business owners don\u2019t know too, they\u2019re trying to do the right thing, but maybe they\u2019re a little nervous about what the cost is. We have pretty transparent pricing, but I would say if you\u2019re a small business, if you have less than 30 employees or make less than a million dollars, they are eligible to get money back every single year they decide to make their websites accessible. I think it\u2019s something that isn\u2019t talked about as much, but for small businesses that maybe can\u2019t afford as much as a big enterprise company, that\u2019s always something that\u2019s a little bit of a help as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (40:09):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Absolutely. Yeah, and I think that\u2019s just part of the education process that at least from our standpoint in our small digital space here in San Antonio, we\u2019re trying to promote as much as possible just as a default, this is how we operate, this is how we work. It is a change in business approach. And look, I mean, you don\u2019t force a client necessarily to do it, but there\u2019s indemnification statements now because as an agency in a business, I also want to protect my own business. I mean, if you\u2019re asking me to work in a condensed space, I don\u2019t want to be responsible for when the building comes down. I hate to put it in those terms, but from an agency protection standpoint and a business protection, it\u2019s not just the client\u2019s business that you\u2019re protecting, you\u2019re also protecting your agency as well. So it just makes sense. I mean, call it insurance policy, call it whatever you will, but it\u2019s just smart business in general. So Alexandra, I really appreciate your time joining us today and spreading the word about necessity and what\u2019s the best way for folks to learn about necessity?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alexandra Britez (41:20):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, there is actually all you could do is go on accessibility.com. One good thing is that you can actually do a free audit on your website to see whether you\u2019re compliant or non-compliant. It\u2019ll kind of give you a little bit of an overview of what the issues may be. Or you could just reach out to our support team, and they\u2019re more than happy to go through a full blown demonstration with you and actually talk a little bit more in depth about accessibility overall and the widget itself and the problems that you\u2019re trying to solve for. But yeah, just going on, access bee.com is<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (41:54):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wonderful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alexandra Britez (41:55):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All the recent. Thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon (41:57):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ll put that information in the show notes and make sure people can go find that and navigate to go get that site audit. I think that\u2019s helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alexandra Britez (42:05):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh, yeah, it\u2019s always really helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pablo (42:08):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Well, thank you again, Alexandra, for joining us on The Boost, and certainly look forward to continuing to work with your organization and yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alexandra Britez (42:17):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yeah, thank you everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leon (42:19):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you for joining us today on The Boost. We had their special guest, Anna Alexandra Bries from accessiBe. If you want to learn more information about acessibility and accessiBe, you can visit&nbsp;assessibe@assessibe.com. That\u2019s A-C-C-E-S-S-I be.com, and you can find us on YouTube at the Boost Channel and then with our newish domain, that\u2019s the Boost dot FM. So thank you for joining us today. See you next time.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this episode of The Boost, hosts Leon Hitchens and Pablo delve into internet accessibility. They discuss the significant gap in accessible web content and the impact of this shortfall on individuals with disabilities. With a special guest, Alexandra Britez from AccessiBe, they explore solutions and the importance of making the web more inclusive. 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