Accessibility: The Critical CX Consideration That Goes Under the Radar

Alternatively, for customers that cannot lip-read, consider adding real-time captions to allow the hard of hearing to keep up.  

Such captions should also feature on pre-recorded videos hosted on the company’s website. Meanwhile, images on the site should include alt-text, and various sections should provide a sufficient color contrast to support customers who struggle to see.  

Also, Mann suggests that contact centers: 

“Consider enabling customers to navigate their IVR through touch-tone and speech to support customers with mental disabilities.”

Finally, to ensure the site and self-service mechanisms are accessible to assistive technologies, consider keyboard accessibility alongside screen readers. After all, people with motor disabilities often rely on modified keyboards.  

The Benefits of Applying These Insights

As noted previously, there are cost benefits to applying these actions, which go beyond avoiding lawsuits. Indeed, the business opens itself to an entirely new customer segment.   

However, the benefits of accessibility don’t stop there. By building an accessible customer experience, business leaders can also improve their brand reputation.   

Disabled customers – alongside their family and friends – will likely spread positive word of mouth experiences, discussing how the business puts their needs first.   

“In a competitive landscape, this can be a crucial way for any brand to differentiate itself,” adds Mann.  

On top of that, investing in accessibility increases customer satisfaction and employee engagement.   

Consider customer satisfaction first. If customers can’t access products, services, and solutions easily, they’ll go elsewhere.  

Designing an intuitive service experience for everyone typically leads to higher satisfaction and improved retention.   

Something as simple as providing customers with visual communication channels may be enough to increase engagement with a particular group of disabled people.     

Then, think about employee engagement. Research shows that today’s top talent want to work with companies that are inclusive and capable of supporting all diverse needs.   

As such, a CX team with a drive to make customer experience accessible to everyone can help a business increase its appeal to new talent.    

Increasing Accessibility for Employees Too

Take accessibility beyond the customer experience, and there is also a significant opportunity in the employee experience. After all, the rise of remote work removed a big blocker to bringing people with disabilities into the contact center environment.  

As such, service teams could expand their talent pools. Yet, to open it up further, the contact center can ensure agent technology complies with accessibility guidelines so that anyone – from anywhere – can handle customer queries.  

To do so, the contact center at Which? works with The Shaw Trust to employ a diverse team and learns from them to ensure disabled employees can work in a comfortable environment.  

By striking similar relationships – with such organizations – contact centers can often hire more capable employees, plug staffing gaps, and meet service levels. In turn, this complements the customer service experience.   

In addition, it ensures every staff member can deliver their best work, regardless of their situation, turning every employee into a top performer.    

Eager to develop a more accessible contact center environment? If so, visit: www.enghouseinteractive.co.uk