ACCESSIBILITY THAT CONVERTS

WHEN CLARITY BECOMES A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Imagine trying to refill a prescription on a phone in a parking lot. Or that you’re a parent who's searching for a school services form late at night. Maybe you’re a veteran trying to understand benefits before an important deadline. When it comes to healthcare and government sectors, people don’t browse. They need something. And when that page is hard to read, the form can’t be completed by keyboard, the PDF won’t cooperate with a screen reader, or the video has no captions, the outcome isn’t just annoying or an inconvenience. It can also violate the law. 

Accessibility is often framed as compliance. But for modern marketing and communications teams, it’s also about performance. Accessible content is clearer, faster to navigate, and easier to act on, which means it converts. 

WHAT “CONVERSION” REALLY MEANS HERE 

In commercial marketing, conversion is a purchase. But in healthcare and government, it’s a bit more complex. For a health plan or government municipality, conversion is often: 

• Enrolling in a plan or program. 

• Finding a provider or location. 

• Booking an appointment. 

• Completing a form. 

• Downloading and understanding a notice. 

• Calling the right number and getting help quickly. 

Accessibility supports these outcomes because it removes barriers. Accessibility helps make graphics clearer and easier to read. Accessibility helps those older adults who might have changing vision. It helps those who don’t have any vision problems at all, but use mobile devices that are small, one-handed, or have glares. Accessibility helps those who have slow connections or use assistive technology. Implementing accessibility practices helps those who have disabilities, but it also helps improve usability for everyone. 

WHERE CONVERSION GETS LOST 

Have you ever the heard the saying, “It’s cheaper to retain an employee than to hire a new one?” Well, that’s true for customers and clients, too. It’s easy to lose a potential customer, but far harder to acquire new ones. The good news is that there are many basic standards of accessibility that can help prevent conversion loss. 

Clear Copy Over Clever Copy 

It’s tempting to think that engaging, clever, and punny copy will get more clicks. And sometimes that’s true for a headline or a preheader. But the truth is that a screen reader can’t “scan” or provide context for a vague header. And without that context, a CTA like “Let’s go!” doesn’t communicate much meaning. Instead, use specific headings that describe what you’re talking about, like “Find a provider” or “Check eligibility.” Make sure to use CTAs that meaningfully describe where the user will go, like “Schedule an appointment” instead of “Click here.” 

Structure is Speed 

Another significant issue that impacts conversion is speed. When pages don’t have a structure or hierarchy of any kind, someone using a screen reader will have to listen to the entire document to get to the section they need. But when proper headings and hierarchy are implemented – and not just by adding bold text alone – users can jump to what they need. 

• For websites, use true H1/H2/H3 hierarchy. 

• For documents, use real styles and tags, not just visual formatting alone. 

• For long pages, break into sections with descriptive subheads. 

Typography Isn't Just a Design Preference 

While it may be tempting to think that the font choices we make are solely a design preference, typography makes a huge difference. If a font that’s hard to read is chosen, possible consumers might click away before making a purchase, enrolling in your health plan, or further engaging with your company. Simply put, if a user has to put in hard work to read it, they won’t work to complete it. Readable, clear typography is one of the basic building blocks of conversion. When choosing a type and setting copy, make sure to use comfortable line spacing and length, a font that’s legible and large enough, adequate color contrasts, and avoid dense blocks of text. 

Forms That Punish 

One of the most challenging and frustrating touchpoints for both consumers and designers is the fillable form. But they’re a necessary evil, because they’re needed for enrollments, purchases, and so much more. However, when we build a form badly and without accessibility in mind, conversion falls off the cliff. To build a form with accessibility and conversion in mind, give every field a clear label, make instructions sit near the field, and fix any errors quickly. 

Video That Isn't Compatible

Another aspect that impacts both accessibility and conversion is video. Have you ever come across a video you wanted to watch, but were in public so you turned on the captions, only to realize the captioning was incorrect, incomplete, or missing entirely? Captions and transcripts increase the number of people who will watch the video to its end, but they also support deaf and hard-of-hearing users, as well as anyone who prefers reading or is simply in a noisy environment. 

WHAT THIS MEANS IN PRACTICE 

Accessibility is one of the rare investments that improves outcomes for both users and organizations together. And yet, it’s still often treated like a nice-to-have. Plus, it can be easy to let accessibility standards fall to the wayside or prioritize other, more immediate concerns – and your team might even be caught in the middle. We see this occur in three places: Remediating after launch, which always leads to higher cost and greater risk; thinking accessibility will ruin the brand, when it encourages creativity while adding discipline; and being unsure of the end goal, which causes interpretation and debate within your accessibility practices. 

The teams that succeed treat accessibility like another team member: built in from the beginning, with a clearly defined role, and measurable goals over time. Accessibility isn’t just about complying with the law. Especially in high-stakes environments like healthcare and government, accessibility is directly tied to performance and conversion. ●