Could Your Practice Be Unwittingly Turning Away Patients?
In today’s fast-paced world, digital accessibility has become a crucial topic for all businesses, including dental practices. Ignoring this could mean inadvertently turning away potential patients and missing out on valuable opportunities for practice growth. Stephanie Warlick, an expert in digital accessibility, sheds light on how we can ensure our digital presence is inclusive and welcoming to everyone.
Digital Accessibility: What Does It Mean?
Digital accessibility is all about making your online presence usable for everyone, including individuals with visual impairments, hearing impairments, and other neuro differences. This involves creating content that can be easily accessed and understood by all users, which also ensures you’re complying with global accessibility laws and regulations.
Why Is It Important for Your Practice?
There are several compelling reasons to prioritise digital accessibility. Firstly, doing so opens your practice to a wider audience, including individuals with disabilities who have significant purchasing power. Secondly, implementing accessibility measures can enhance your business’s reputation, showcasing it as inclusive and forward-thinking. Lastly, with accessibility laws increasingly being enforced globally, non-compliance could lead to hefty fines that might impact your practice.
Steps to Improve Digital Accessibility
1. Website Design: Ensure your website is free from features that could be a deterrent. Avoid flashing images or scrolling animations that could trigger seizures or hinder navigation for users with disabilities.
2. Readable Content: Use high-contrast colour schemes and readable fonts, such as Arial, in a minimum size of 12 point to make your content accessible to individuals with low vision.
3. Accessible Forms and Documents: Make sure intake forms on your website or provided to patients are in a format that is digitally accessible. Tools like Microsoft’s accessibility checker can be utilised to ensure this.
4. Alternative Tags for Images: Use alt tags for images on your website, which assist screen readers in describing images to users with visual impairments. This not only aids accessibility but also improves your site’s SEO.
5. Communication Etiquette: It’s vital to educate your team on how to communicate effectively with all patients, ensuring you are inclusive and accommodating to everyone’s needs.
Your Call to Action
Awareness is the first step towards improvement. By using accessibility checkers and making small yet significant changes, you’ll not only enhance your practice’s inclusivity but also foster business growth and community goodwill.
For more insights and guidance from experts in the field, tune into the Practice Growth HQ podcast on
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Let’s start turning random acts of kindness into intentional acts of inclusion for a thriving practice.