.png)
Frameworks, core principles and top case studies for SaaS pricing, learnt and refined over 28+ years of SaaS-monetization experience.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Introduction
In today's digital-first business environment, accessibility has evolved from a compliance checkbox to a strategic business advantage. For SaaS executives, understanding and implementing digital accessibility is no longer optional—it directly impacts market reach, customer satisfaction, and even bottom-line profitability. While 15% of the global population lives with some form of disability, the business implications of accessibility extend far beyond this demographic. This article explores what accessibility truly means in the SaaS context, why it delivers significant business value, and how to effectively measure your accessibility performance.
What is Digital Accessibility?
Digital accessibility refers to the practice of designing and developing digital products, services, and environments that can be used by people with a wide range of abilities and disabilities. For SaaS platforms, this means ensuring that everyone—regardless of visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive impairments—can effectively use your software.
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), provide the most widely accepted standards for digital accessibility. Currently at version 2.1, with 2.2 recently released, these guidelines are organized around four key principles:
- Perceivable: Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive.
- Operable: User interface components and navigation must be operable by all users.
- Understandable: Information and operation of the user interface must be understandable.
- Robust: Content must be robust enough to be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies.
Why Accessibility Matters to SaaS Executives
Expanded Market Reach
According to the World Health Organization, over one billion people worldwide live with some form of disability. In the United States alone, people with disabilities control approximately $490 billion in disposable income. When your SaaS product is accessible, you unlock access to a significant market segment that competitors with inaccessible products cannot reach.
Competitive Advantage
Research by Accenture found that companies that embrace best practices for employing and supporting people with disabilities outperformed their peers, achieving 28% higher revenue, double the net income, and 30% higher economic profit margins over a four-year period. This performance advantage extends to companies that prioritize accessible products and services.
Risk Mitigation
The legal landscape around digital accessibility continues to evolve, with an increasing number of lawsuits filed against companies with inaccessible digital properties. According to an analysis by UsableNet, ADA-related digital accessibility lawsuits increased by 14.3% in 2021, with over 4,000 cases filed in federal courts. By prioritizing accessibility, SaaS executives protect their companies from potential litigation and associated costs.
Enhanced User Experience for Everyone
The principles of accessible design—clear navigation, readable content, keyboard accessibility, sufficient color contrast—benefit all users, not just those with disabilities. Microsoft's Inclusive Design team has demonstrated that designing for the "permanent, temporary, and situational disabilities" that we all experience creates better products for everyone.
Brand Reputation and ESG Performance
As environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors increasingly influence investor decisions and consumer preferences, accessibility has become a measurable component of corporate social responsibility. According to a report by the Return on Disability Group, companies that demonstrate leadership in accessibility experience stronger customer loyalty and brand perception.
How to Measure Accessibility
For SaaS executives looking to quantify and improve their product's accessibility, several key metrics and measurement approaches can provide actionable insights:
1. Conformance to Standards
The most fundamental measure is your level of conformance to WCAG guidelines:
- Level A: Minimum level of conformance
- Level AA: Addresses the most common and significant barriers (this is the typical compliance target)
- Level AAA: The highest level of accessibility
Most organizations target WCAG 2.1 Level AA conformance, which is referenced in many legal requirements worldwide, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in the US and the European Accessibility Act in the EU.
2. Automated Testing Metrics
Automated accessibility testing tools like Axe, Wave, or Lighthouse can scan your SaaS application and provide quantitative metrics, including:
- Error density: Number of accessibility issues per page or screen
- Issue severity distribution: Critical, serious, moderate, and minor issues
- Issue categories: Color contrast, keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, etc.
- Pass rate: Percentage of automated checkpoints passed
According to the WebAIM Million report, which annually analyzes the top one million home pages, the average website in 2022 had 50.8 detectable accessibility errors—a benchmark that provides context for your own metrics.
3. Manual Testing Results
While automated tools can identify many issues, they typically catch only about 30-40% of potential accessibility problems. Manual testing by trained evaluators using assistive technologies provides deeper insights:
- Task completion rates: Can users with disabilities complete key workflows?
- Time-on-task differences: How do completion times compare between users with and without disabilities?
- Error rates: How frequently do users with disabilities encounter barriers?
4. User Testing with People with Disabilities
Direct feedback from users with disabilities provides the most valuable insights:
- System Usability Scale (SUS) scores: A standardized measure of perceived usability
- Net Promoter Score (NPS): Likelihood to recommend your product
- Qualitative feedback: Identification of barriers not caught by other methods
5. Accessibility Debt Tracking
Similar to technical debt, accessibility debt represents the accumulation of accessibility issues that need to be addressed:
- New issue introduction rate: Are you adding accessibility issues faster than resolving them?
- Resolution time: Average time to fix identified issues
- Backlog size and aging: Number and age of open accessibility issues
6. Business Impact Metrics
Ultimately, executives need to understand how accessibility affects business outcomes:
- Conversion rate differences: Compare rates between users with and without assistive technology
- Support ticket reduction: Decrease in accessibility-related support requests
- Customer acquisition costs: Changes in CAC for new customers with disabilities
- Customer retention impact: Differences in churn rates between users with and without disabilities
Implementing an Accessibility Measurement Program
To effectively measure and improve accessibility, consider this phased approach:
1. Establish a Baseline
Conduct a comprehensive audit of your SaaS product against WCAG 2.1 Level AA requirements, using both automated and manual testing methods. This baseline allows you to:
- Identify critical issues affecting key user journeys
- Quantify your current accessibility debt
- Prioritize remediation efforts based on user impact and technical complexity
2. Define Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Based on your business priorities and current accessibility maturity, select 3-5 key metrics to track regularly:
- For organizations just starting out: Focus on conformance metrics and critical issue reduction
- For maturing programs: Emphasize user experience metrics and business impact measurements
- For advanced programs: Track leading indicators like the percentage of features launched with zero accessibility issues
3. Implement Continuous Monitoring
Integrate accessibility testing into your development and QA processes:
- Run automated scans as part of CI/CD pipelines
- Conduct periodic manual testing of key user flows
- Schedule regular usability testing with people with disabilities
4. Report and Communicate
Make accessibility metrics visible to leadership and development teams:
- Include accessibility KPIs in executive dashboards
- Track accessibility improvement over time
- Celebrate progress and success stories
According to Forrester Research, organizations with mature accessibility programs that include robust measurement frameworks achieve 3.4x higher return on their accessibility investments compared to those with ad hoc approaches.
Conclusion
For SaaS executives, accessibility represents both a significant opportunity and an increasingly important responsibility. By understanding what accessibility means in the context of your products, recognizing its business value beyond compliance, and implementing effective measurement frameworks, you can transform accessibility from a potential liability into a competitive advantage.
The companies leading in digital accessibility are discovering that what began as efforts to accommodate users with disabilities often results in innovations that improve experiences for all users. As Bill Gates noted, "Innovation is an essential opportunity to improve the lives of everyone, including the more than one billion people with disabilities around the world."
By measuring what matters and making accessibility a strategic priority, SaaS executives can drive both social impact and business performance—a rare opportunity for true shared value creation in today's competitive landscape.