Web Accessibility Impacts Your SEO and Customer Growth

Five years ago, web accessibility was often something discussed only in connection with public procurement. Back then, you could launch a new website for 100,000 SEK without anyone asking if people with visual impairments could actually use the site. Today, it’s different. Most agencies and larger companies have realized that accessibility is not just a "nice to have" but something that directly affects business and shows up in Google.

When I talk to CEOs, I usually explain it like this: If your website is difficult to use for someone with, for example, impaired vision, it’s often also hard for Google to understand. Google looks for the same things people do — clear structure, good contrast, functioning forms. If you miss that, you lose both real customers and rankings in search results.

"Google likes the same things as real users — clarity, simplicity, and working technology."

A concrete example: A client of mine had a contact form with weak color contrasts and incorrect labels. For a person with color blindness, it was practically impossible to fill out, but it also showed in the conversion rate. After we fixed the contrasts and made the form clear, the number of submitted inquiries increased by 27 percent. At the same time, they jumped three positions in Google’s search results for their most important keyword.

So, what does it cost? Making a typical corporate website accessible according to legal requirements and Google’s recommendations usually costs between 20,000 and 45,000 SEK. It’s a one-time cost, and often you can combine it with a design update. If you instead ignore accessibility, it can become more expensive. A lost business opportunity via the web for a consulting company can easily cost 50,000 SEK or more in lost revenue.

"The important thing is not to push the price down. It’s to buy the right thing, with open cards."

What do you get if you invest in accessibility?

• More visitors stay longer because more people can use the site
• Lower risk of legal issues (especially if you work with the public sector)
• Higher conversion rates — more leads, bookings, or sold products
• Better Google ranking because the search engine understands the site better

I often see companies postpone this because "it’s so technical." But it’s actually a business issue. Imagine if 10 percent of your potential customers leave your site just because a button is too light or a form is complicated. Then you’re literally throwing money out the window.

As a CEO, you don’t need to understand every WCAG standard (the official guidelines for web accessibility). You just need to know that accessibility is as much an investment as SEO or digital advertising. And in many cases, they go hand in hand. If you want to see what it would mean for your company specifically, it’s actually easier and cheaper than you think — just ask your web agency.

I often say to my clients: How much are you willing to lose because your website isn’t usable for everyone? That’s the real cost, not what’s on the invoice.

So, are you willing to let 10 percent of your customers go to competitors just to save a few thousand SEK in the wrong place?