Blog » Available Technology That Brings Barriers Down Between People

Available Technology That Brings Barriers Down Between People

Not business can appeal to all audience groups. It’s in the nature of businesses to segment the market to conquer it. However, there is a thin line between not appealing to a specific audience group because of diverging interests or needs, and excluding an audience group that would benefit from your products or services. 

The path to bringing down the barriers between businesses and their audience – employees, customers, partners – is long. But there is a lot that companies can already achieve with the available technology. While this isn’t to say that technology is the sole response to inclusiveness, it can help remove obstacles that affect communication, interactions, and engagement with a company. Here are some of the most common examples in tech applications for a more comprehensive offering. 

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Your website should offer clarity

Most customers discover your business through the website, which makes your digital presence the first point of contact. Web content and layout can play a significant role in influencing consumers and driving conversions. However, you can take it a step further to introduce a clear and simple to understand concept, even if you’re promoting complex services. Making your content accessible to all doesn’t require much more than strategic use of imagery, short sentences, and approachable copywriting. 

Your products need to be accessible to most

In the US, over 54 million adults have arthritis. It is approximately 1 in 4 individuals. They can experience weaknesses in the joints, pain, and limited mobility. These people may struggle to access products that are too heavy for their joints. The solution is to use simple engineering with carbon fiber sheets to design lighter and more accessible everyday products. Carbon fiber can be part of making a variety of items available and durable to individuals with reduced mobility or strength, which could target people with disabilities, seniors, and individuals with an injury. This is only an example of how to transform existing products. Adding braille writing could be relevant to some items, creating friendlier colors and shapes may be better suited for specific audience groups, etc. 

Can your website pass the accessibility test?

A lot of websites tend to run mobile-friendly screen tests and assume it is synonymous with accessibility. In reality, the majority of sites fail accessibility tests, despite being responsive. Why does it happen? Because creating a website that supports users with disabilities is a lot more complicated than it seems. However, the technology exists already. Screen reader compatibility, for instance, requires no more than clear HTML and label usage to make your content readable. 

Your help space should be adapted to the users

A chat function is a helpful addition to any website. You want customers who are facing a problem to be able to solve it in real time. However, literacy scores can vary significantly among individuals. As such, someone who is not a confident user of the written word can struggle to read intent or meaning in chat interactions. Something as simple as the addition of emojis and images could completely transform their experience. 

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There are many more ways of using existing technology to make your services, process, and products more inclusive for today’s audience. However, every business needs to cover the basics of inclusiveness, which means making their concept easy to understand, handle, and access for all. 

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