As a pharmacy, you’ll serve customers from a variety of demographics. When you see them in-person, you can tailor your service to suit their needs, but what about online? Is your website set up to be accessible?
If you’re unsure, then this is certainly an area to look into because not only will this mean some of your customers may struggle to find information about your products and services, you will also likely be losing money because they can’t make purchases easily.
So, here are our top three reasons why accessibility needs to be at the top of the list for pharmacy web design.
More sales
It might sound mercenary, but it’s true. Having an accessible website will likely boost your sales. One survey from 2019 found that UK businesses collectively lose £17.1 billion because people abandon their websites due to accessibility issues.
It is estimated that people with disabilities and their families in the UK spend an average of £249 billion every year, which is a significant market to tap into.
By making your website fully accessible, you’ll convert customers who would otherwise look elsewhere and you will likely become a go-to site for them, building a loyal customer base for your pharmacy.
Better user experience for everyone
Much of the work to make a website accessible benefits other users, not just those with disabilities. Building an accessible pharmacy website will mean that it is more usable on a range of devices, from mobile phones to smart watches.
Accessible websites also support older people who may find navigating complex websites confusing. There are also situations that can make using a standard website a challenge – such as being in bright sunlight. An accessible site will support users in this situation too.
Your website might not need a complete overhaul, but assessing it for its accessibility is a good step to ensure that you aren’t inadvertently making it harder than it needs to be for anyone to access your services.
Stay compliant with the latest laws
There are legal policies that require websites to be accessible. In Europe, for instance, the European Accessibility Act is designed to ensure that technology is accessible to those with a range of disabilities.
Within the UK, websites are also expected to comply with the Equality Act, which prevents any group of people being discriminated against. What this means in practice is that you need to make “reasonable adjustments” to ensure access to your content.
The advice is to ensure that your website is compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidance (WCAG) that has been created as part of the Web Accessibility Initiative. If you follow this guidance, you can be confident that you are meeting all your legal requirements, as well as providing a better online experience for everyone.
Website accessibility doesn’t have to be complicated and often a few small tweaks will make all the difference. This includes ensuring you use an easily readable font, providing transcripts for video and audio content and using descriptive language for links and buttons (such as “Contact us” instead of “Click here”).