Website Accessibility: Why It Matters and How to Fix It
1 billion people worldwide have disabilities. If your site isn't accessible, you're excluding 15% of the population.
Web accessibility means making your site usable by everyone: visual (blindness, color blindness), auditory (deafness), motor (limited control), cognitive (dyslexia, ADHD).
Business case: 1 billion people with disabilities, $13 trillion in annual disposable income, 71% of users leave inaccessible sites, SEO boost, and increasing legal risk.
The 4 principles (POUR): Perceivable (alt text, captions, contrast), Operable (keyboard navigation, no time limits), Understandable (clear language, consistent nav), Robust (screen reader compatible).
Quick wins: all images have alt text, site works with keyboard only, font size at least 16px, contrast ratio at least 4.5:1, forms have visible labels. Test with Lighthouse, WAVE, axe DevTools. Lawsuits increased 300% from 2018-2023.