Users are human beings
Of course, we agency professionals, and our clients, would never say, "We don't care about people with disabilities." It's hard to even type that because I would never want to accuse anyone I work with of feeling that way; I know we don't! Truly!
But!
In many cases, that's the message that people with disabilities may perceive if we produce materials that are not accessible for them. Ask them! Talk to them! Better yet, hire them! Sincerely, I'm asking you to please consider doing these three things. Ask them, talk to them, hire them.
We all interact with brands every day, and (obviously!) this includes people with disabilities. And these folks notice which companies have made the effort to make things accessible for them, and which have not. The companies who have not — even if it's simply through neglect — are creating a very negative public impression for themselves. Many of these companies don't even realize it, because they put their trust in marketing agencies who didn't talk to them about their obligations (both legal and ethical) for accessibility.
Do our clients want the reputation of being a company that doesn't care about people with disabilities? Do we want to create that reputation for our clients by producing work for them that's not accessible? Of course not! I'm telling you, this is exactly what we're risking when we don't make our work accessible. Imagine the fallout if one of our clients has to deal with a PR scandal because someone publicly shames them for publishing materials that aren't accessible. It's a very scary thought, and it's also a scenario that's easy to avoid.
So please consider all of the above when a colleague says, "It's too late to change the link color," or, "The client doesn't care if this piece isn't ADA-compliant." It's worth the effort to explain the importance of accessibility, from both an ethical and legal standpoint, and get everyone on board.
– Manning
Questions/comments? Feel free to contact me at manning@manningkrull.com. I update these articles pretty frequently — best practices evolve over time as the world of digital quickly changes, and I always welcome insights from others.