Picture this: you’re driving through a town with no traffic lights or stop signs. Annoying, right?
Now imagine trying to browse a website with poor formatting or missing labels. It’s frustrating for anyone. But it’s an everyday uphill battle for millions of people with visual impairments.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 1.3 billion people worldwide experience some form of disability. And yet, over 98% of websites still fail basic accessibility tests.
If you round off that number, 9 out of 10 websites on the Internet are ignorant of accessibility issues. And yet, nobody seems to be doing anything about it.
It’s a systemic failure — and Venngage is stepping up to change that.
The business case for digital accessibility
Digital accessibility is an increasingly urgent issue. WebAIM data shows that 95.9% of home pages on the Internet have detectable WCAG 2 failures.
But ignoring the needs of people with disabilities — offline or online — can prove costly since they have close to $1.2 trillion of disposable income.
Here are some more statistics on why digital accessibility is a pressing matter for most businesses today:
- Approximately 217 million people have some kind of vision impairment, which is expected to triple by 2050. Another 826 million have near-vision impairment.
- 16% of the world’s population — or 1.3 billion people — use assistive tools to access online content.
- 73% of disabled online shoppers face challenges accessing 1 in 4 websites they visit.
- 70% of websites in the government, news and e-commerce sector are inaccessible to vision-impaired users.
- 15% of disabled people never go online — compared to just 5% of non-disabled individuals — due to inaccessibility barriers.
Accessibility: An option or obligation?
The internet is evolving and businesses that fail to adapt to the growing demand for accessibility risk losing not just compliance but customers.
And while we’re at it, let’s address the elephant in the room — ignoring accessibility can lead to costly lawsuits. Penalties for ADA violations can reach up to $55,000 for a first offense and $110,000 for subsequent ones.
Winn-Dixie in 2017 and Domino’s Pizza in 2019 had to go through tough legal battles for failing to comply with website and mobile app accessibility issues. These lawsuits often lead to hefty fines and damaged brand reputation.
The good news? More businesses are recognizing that accessibility is not just good ethics but good business.
Tech giants like Apple and Microsoft design their websites and apps to enhance screen reader and voice assistant compatibility. The rising popularity of AI-driven tools, speech-to-text technology and assistive interfaces is enabling even smaller businesses with less resources to achieve inclusivity.
Yet, for every advancement, there are fundamental gaps.
The inclusivity gap: Where businesses fall short
Most organizations launch their websites without complying with global accessibility standards such as Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Many businesses talk about practicing inclusivity in hiring but ignore accessibility when it comes to serving their customers.
And online forms happen to be one of the biggest oversights for brands that want to create user-friendly forms, but gloss over lack of inclusive design.
Most online forms are inaccessible
Forms are the gatekeepers of the internet — essentially everything from a downloadable eBook to job applications are gated behind the coveted online forms.
As if people didn’t already hate online forms for hiding treasures that they sought, they also are one of the most neglected aspects of digital accessibility.
For instance, the average form that you see online is notorious for missing labels, having poor navigation or throwing vague error messages.
Think of the time you tried filling out a form on your phone, only to find it unresponsive or difficult to navigate.
To say that this is frustrating for a person with a disability would be an understatement. Inaccessible forms can make accomplishing even a simple task seemingly impossible.
From the UX point of view, accessibility is a basic expectation. And if a website’s form design prevents someone from applying for a job or booking an appointment, it’s not merely an inconvenience.
The scale at which it’s happening amounts to systemic discrimination.
Venngage’s commitment to innovation and inclusivity
Accessibility is one of the core tenets for us at Venngage. As a company, we have consistently built accessibility tools that bridge the digital divide to make information accessible to everyone.
For instance, we built an Accessible PDF Maker packed with useful features like an AI-powered alt text generator, automated compliance checks and a color-blind simulator.
And now, Venngage is taking accessibility a step further by launching Accessible Forms — a.k.a A11Y Forms.
Introducing A11Y Forms from Venngage
The Internet is flooded with online form builders — so many, that choosing one can lead to choice paralysis.
Leading tools like Typeform and Jotform have great user interfaces, customizable templates and enviable integrations. Others like Google Forms and Zoho Forms have free plans for individual users.
At a glance, these platforms seem to have everything — except accessibility.
Despite their robust features, most form builders have zero accessibility features. This alienates people with disabilities and exposes businesses to potential legal risks.
At Venngage, we recognized this gap and built A11Y Forms — a form builder with accessibility at its core.
What is A11Y Forms?
Web forms are one of the biggest accessibility pain points online. Poorly designed forms make tasks like signing up for an account, filling out a checkout form or applying for a job nearly impossible for many users with visual disabilities.
Venngage is changing that with A11Y Forms — an easy-to-use tool that lets you design reader-friendly forms:
A11Y Forms ensure built-in accessibility checks, proper keyboard navigation and screen reader compatibility.
It bridges the accessibility gap left unfilled by other form builders. With A11Y Forms, you can create visually appealing, user-friendly forms without having to worry about making them accessible.
That’s because A11Y Forms incorporates accessibility features right out of the gates. By design, the forms comply with international accessibility standards and offer a delightful UX to everyone.
Here are seven A11Y Forms’ features that help you ensure accessibility without compromising on design or usability:
1. Built-in accessibility
Most form builders require users to install plugins, adjust settings or manually tweak the HTML code to make their forms accessible. A11Y Forms eliminates all of that.
It integrates accessibility from the start — meaning every form you create is automatically structured for inclusivity without extra effort. It’s as simple as designing and sharing.
2. 20+ form templates
Building an accessible form from scratch can be overwhelming, especially for those unfamiliar with accessibility guidelines. A11Y Forms eliminates the guesswork by providing pre-built, accessibility-compliant form templates that meet WCAG and ADA standards.
Whether you need a job application, feedback form or survey, these templates save time while ensuring a seamless experience for all users.
Here are a few examples of ready-to-use templates in A11Y Forms:
3. Fully responsive design
Users access forms on various devices — desktops, tablets and smartphones. A11Y Forms ensures forms are fully responsive, meaning they adjust across different screen sizes and devices.
Whether users rely on screen magnifiers, mobile accessibility features or larger text settings, A11Y Forms adapts to their needs without sacrificing functionality.
Not all users can use a mouse to browse the Internet. Many people with disabilities — such as limited hand mobility, blindness or other forms of vision impairments — use keyboard controls to navigate websites or fill out forms.
A11Y Forms ensures that such users can access all form elements and fill them out by using a keyboard alone.
5. Screen reader compatible
According to a WebAIM survey, more and more people use screen readers on mobile devices than on desktops — and that includes non-disabled users too. A11Y Forms offers descriptive labels and instructions that screen readers can easily interpret to help visually impaired users easily understand a form’s content and fill it out without any confusion.
6. Compliant and inclusive by design
With increasing legal scrutiny on digital accessibility, non-compliance can lead to lawsuits, fines and reputational damage. A11Y Forms ensures your forms align with global accessibility standards like WCAG 2.1, ADA and Section 508.
Beyond compliance, it fosters inclusivity — allowing businesses, educators and organizations to create experiences that accommodate all users, regardless of ability.
7. Built to save time
Most accessibility solutions require additional software, audits or manual remediation after form creation. A11Y Forms simplifies the process by readily offering accessibility — no need for third-party apps, extensions or coding knowledge.
You can simply create, customize and share a form in minutes without any concern about inaccessibility.
Now that you know what A11Y Forms can do, let’s talk about how you can create an accessible form with A11Y Forms — even if you haven’t created one before
How to create a new form with A11Y Forms
Creating a form with A11Y Forms is straightforward — and you don’t need any technical expertise to build one.
Suppose you’re a business owner needing to gather customer feedback through an online survey. Here’s how you can create a new form in A11Y Forms:
- Choose a pre-built accessible template: Select from over 50 professionally designed, accessibility-focused form templates.
- Customize form fields: Modify the fields, dropdowns or the interface to improve accessibility.
- Built-in accessibility checks: A11Y Forms automatically optimizes your form for screen readers and keyboard navigation.
- Edit the tag order: Adjust the logical reading order to improve screen reader navigation.
- Share your form: Download an accessible PDF or share the form online.
Lead the way in digital accessibility today
The Internet is changing rapidly and accessibility can’t be limited to tokenism. As organizations and businesses recognize the impact of digital inclusivity, those who take proactive steps can gain the first-mover advantage in improving their user experience, market share and customer loyalty.
Venngage’s A11Y Forms can be the catalyst in that direction. It eliminates barriers, simplifies compliance and ensures that everyone — regardless of ability — can seamlessly engage with digital content.
