When people think about web accessibility, they often think it’s just for blind users. But the truth is, accessible websites benefit a much broader group, including people with various disabilities, temporary impairments, and even those without any disability at all, like you! Our new infographic breaks down exactly who benefits when you make your WordPress website accessible.
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Who Accessibility Helps
Learn who benefits when you make your website accessible.
1. People with Disabilities
Vision impairment or blindness
2.2 billion people. Includes near vision impairment (e.g., presbyopia), distance vision impairment (e.g., myopia, cataracts, glaucoma), color blindness, and total blindness.
Hearing impairment or deafness
1.5 billion people. Nearly 20% of the global population has hearing loss; 430 million people have disabling hearing loss. Some from birth, some developed over time.
Musculoskeletal conditions
1.71 billion people. Musculoskeletal disorders encompass more than 150 conditions (e.g., limb differences, arthritis, tendon injuries) that limit dexterity and fine motor ability.
Cognitive disabilities
800 million people. Hundreds of millions of people experience intellectual, developmental, and age-related cognitive impairments, or dementia.
Reading difficulties and dyslexia
1.6 billion people. 1 in 4 working-age adults struggle to read beyond very basic text. 10–20% of the population worldwide has dyslexia.
2. People with Temporary Disabilities
Temporary disabilities such as a broken arm or hand, eye surgery recovery, an ear infection or blockage affecting hearing, concussion, or mild brain injury.
3. People Experiencing Situational Limitations
Situational limitations require typically-abled people to make use of accessibility features. For example:
- Using a mobile phone in bright sunlight requires high color contrast.
- Using captions when in an environment where sound can’t be played.
- Lightweight, well-structured pages load faster on limited bandwidth or slow internet.
4. Older Adults
Many older users experience age-related changes in vision, hearing, dexterity, and memory. Accessible websites are easier for them to navigate and use.
5. Language Learners
Language learners benefit from simple language and clear content structure. Accessible websites are easier to translate with automated tools.
6. You!
Organizations and businesses benefit from making their websites accessible.
- Improve SEO and ranking.
- Reduce operational costs.
- Reach a larger audience.
- Future-proof your website.
- Ensure legal compliance.
- Enhance brand reputation.
Stats from the World Health Organization and other resources. Visit equalizedigital.com/whobenefits for sources and additional information.
More About Who Accessibility Helps
Helping People with Disabilities
Disability takes many forms, and over 1 billion people worldwide experience some disability. This includes individuals with:
Vision impairments or blindness
Vision impairments or blindness affect over 2.2 billion people, including those with low vision, color blindness, or total blindness. People with vision impairments may use assistive technology like screen readers, screen magnifiers, or have their operating system set to show things in high contrast mode. These users typically rely heavily on keyboard navigation, and only some low-vision users will use a mouse.
Learn more about making your site accessible for blind users, color blind accessibility, and how to optimize for low-vision users.
Hearing impairment or deafness
Hearing loss or deafness impacts 1.5 billion people, with 430 million experiencing disabling hearing loss. Accessible sites with captions and transcripts are critical, especially for users who rely on them due to profound or situational hearing loss.
Read our tips for accessibility for Deaf users or accessibility for DeafBlind users, or watch this webinar on-demand: Practical Advice for Meeting Caption, Transcript, and Sign Language Requirements.
Musculoskeletal conditions
Musculoskeletal conditions affect over 1.71 billion people worldwide, making them one of the most common types of physical impairments. These conditions include more than 150 diseases and disorders—such as arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, repetitive strain injuries, limb differences, and injuries from accidents or surgeries—that limit dexterity, fine motor control, strength, and mobility.
For people with musculoskeletal impairments, using a standard keyboard or mouse can be difficult or impossible. Accessible websites help reduce these barriers.
Hear stories about how people with mobility and other differences use the web in this webinar recording, The Internet is Unusable: The Disabled View with Nicolas Steenhout.
Cognitive and developmental disabilities
Cognitive and developmental disabilities encompass a wide range of conditions that affect how people process information, concentrate, remember, or learn. These include intellectual disabilities, autism, Down syndrome, dementia, brain injuries, and neurodevelopmental disorders like ADHD. These conditions affect hundreds of millions worldwide, many of whom rely on accessible digital environments to navigate and understand web content effectively.
Based on global data from the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and other leading sources, we estimate that more than 800 million people live with cognitive or developmental disabilities. Here’s how that number breaks down:
- Developmental disabilities (children): A 2023 UNICEF report estimates that 317 million children under age 18 live with developmental disabilities.
- Intellectual disabilities: The Special Olympics estimates that 200 million people worldwide have an intellectual disability.
- Dementia: According to the WHO, 57 million people currently live with dementia, with nearly 10 million new cases added each year.
- Mild cognitive impairment in older adults: Although often not formally diagnosed as a disability, mild cognitive impairment affects an estimated 24% of adults over 60. With a global older adult population exceeding 1 billion, that suggests an additional ~264 million people may experience cognitive barriers online.
When we add these populations together—317 million children with developmental disabilities, 200 million people with intellectual disabilities, 57 million living with dementia, and roughly 264 million older adults with mild cognitive impairment—we arrive at a conservative total of over 800 million individuals globally with cognitive or developmental impairments that can affect how they interact with digital content.
Reading difficulties and dyslexia
Reading difficulties are far more widespread than many realize. Globally, more than 1.6 billion people experience challenges with reading—whether due to learning disabilities like dyslexia or low literacy levels that limit the ability to comprehend and act on written information.
Dyslexia, the most common learning disability, affects an estimated 10–20% of the global population. That equates to 800 million to 1.6 billion people who may struggle with decoding words, spelling, or reading fluently. Dyslexia is neurological in origin and unrelated to intelligence, but it can significantly affect access to digital content when websites are not designed with readability in mind.
In addition to those with diagnosed learning disabilities, a large portion of the adult population reads below an 8th-grade level. According to the OECD’s adult skills survey, approximately 26% of adults worldwide score at or below Level 1 in literacy, meaning they can only handle very simple reading tasks. In real numbers, that’s about 1.69 billion people who may have difficulty understanding complex instructions, unfamiliar vocabulary, or dense blocks of text.
Accessible websites help by:
- Using plain language and short sentences.
- Structuring content with clear headings and lists.
- Avoiding jargon and unnecessary complexity.
- Supporting screen readers and text-to-speech tools.
- Offering adjustable font sizes and spacing.
Font choice and layout also play a crucial role. Certain typefaces are easier to read for people with dyslexia or visual processing issues. If you’re unsure where to start, check out Carie Fisher’s presentation on accessible typography for best practices on font selection.
For more on assessing and improving your website’s readability, see our readability guide for Accessibility Checker, which explains how to identify hard-to-read content and what you can do to make it more accessible.
Making your content easier to read doesn’t just help people with dyslexia or low literacy—it improves understanding and retention for all users, no matter their reading level.
People With Temporary Disabilities
Disability isn’t always permanent. Many people experience temporary disabilities—short-term conditions that limit physical, sensory, or cognitive function. These can occur due to injury, illness, surgery, or recovery periods, and they can significantly affect how someone interacts with digital content, even if only for a few days or weeks.
Some common examples include:
- A broken arm, wrist, or finger, which can prevent someone from using a mouse or typing with both hands.
- Eye surgery recovery, such as after LASIK or cataract removal, which may cause blurred vision or light sensitivity.
- Ear infections or blockages, which may lead to temporary hearing loss and increase reliance on captions or visual cues.
- A concussion or mild traumatic brain injury, which can impair memory, concentration, or reading comprehension.
- Tendonitis or repetitive strain injury, which may limit fine motor control and make it difficult to navigate using traditional input devices.
Temporary disabilities may also arise during pregnancy, postpartum recovery, or even from fatigue and illness that reduce someone’s ability to focus, process content quickly, or maintain attention.
While these impairments may resolve over time, their impact on digital access is real—and frustrating—if websites are not designed to accommodate diverse modes of interaction.
People Experiencing Situational Limitations
Not all accessibility challenges arise from disability. Situational limitations occur when a person’s environment or context temporarily reduces their ability to interact with digital content. These limitations affect everyone at some point, which makes accessible design a universal benefit—not just a specialized feature.
Common examples of situational limitations include:
- Bright sunlight that makes it hard to read a screen, especially if the website has low color contrast or relies on subtle visual indicators.
- Noisy environments, like public transportation or a busy office, where users may not be able to hear audio. In these cases, captions or transcripts become essential.
- Limited internet bandwidth or data restrictions, particularly on mobile devices or in rural areas. Lightweight, well-structured pages that load quickly and degrade gracefully help ensure access.
- Using a mobile phone one-handed, such as while holding a child or grocery bag, which makes large clickable targets and voice navigation features more important.
- Multitasking or distractions, where simplified layouts and clear calls to action help users stay focused and complete tasks even when interrupted.
- Gloved hands or physical obstructions, like trying to use a touchscreen in the winter, where precise gestures are harder and button size becomes crucial.
These limitations don’t stem from disability—but they often require the same accommodations as permanent or temporary impairments. A person juggling a toddler and their phone has similar needs to someone with limited mobility in one hand. Someone in a loud environment benefits from captions the same way a Deaf user does.
This overlap is what makes accessibility so powerful: by addressing the needs of people with disabilities, we also make digital experiences more usable and resilient for everyone.
Designing for situational limitations is essential in a world where users access websites on-the-go, in all kinds of environments, and with constantly shifting attention spans. Accessibility ensures your website works not just in ideal conditions—but in the real world, where unpredictability is the norm.
Older Adults
As people age, they often experience a combination of physical and cognitive changes that can make using websites more challenging. This may include reduced vision, hearing loss, decreased dexterity, and slower information processing or memory recall. According to the WHO, these age-related changes affect a large and growing segment of the global population.
This is the one group of users who benefit from accessibility that we will all one day join.
As global demographics shift and more people over the age of 60 use digital devices to access services, shopping, healthcare, and communication tools, ensuring accessibility for older adults is increasingly important. Accessible design empowers older users to stay connected, independent, and informed—while also improving usability for all age groups.
Language Learners
People who are learning a new language—whether as immigrants, international students, travelers, or multilingual professionals—often face challenges understanding unfamiliar vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, or complex sentence structures. For these users, accessible websites provide critical support by improving clarity and reducing linguistic barriers.
Accessible content for language learners typically follows best practices such as:
- Using plain language and avoiding unnecessary jargon
- Organizing information with clear headings and logical structure
- Including alternative text for images that explains visual content in simple terms
- Offering transcripts and captions that aid comprehension of audio or video content
- Supporting machine translation by using clean, semantic HTML and avoiding embedded text in images
When websites follow accessibility principles, they are easier to translate—whether through automated tools like Google Translate or human interpreters. Proper use of headings, ARIA landmarks, and consistent navigation patterns also helps users stay oriented on the page and understand how content is organized, even when it’s not in their native language.
Additionally, many language learners benefit from features designed for users with cognitive disabilities, such as chunked content, icons paired with text, and simplified interactions. These design choices don’t just reduce confusion—they boost confidence and encourage engagement.
Whether someone is fluent in your site’s primary language or still learning, accessibility ensures your content is easier to read, easier to navigate, and more welcoming to a global audience.
Organizations and Businesses
Making your website accessible isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s good business. Here’s how accessibility benefits your organization:
- Reach a larger audience – accessibile websites can be used by everyone. With means more people reading your content, inquiring about services, and making purchases.
- Improve SEO and ranking – accessible sites tend to be faster, clearer, and better structured. This means they are easier for search engines to crawl and understand, which means the content will rank higher in search results.
- Support legal compliance – ensuring alignment with laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 508, the European Accessibility Act, and other accessibility laws worldwide.
- Enhance brand reputation – demonstrate a commitment to inclusion and social responsibility. This can lead to more positive reviews and repeat customers who become brand advocates, sharing your organization with others.
- Reduce operational costs – when people can self-serve on your website, you decrease support requests and the number of phone calls staff need to respond to. Additionally, having an accessible website that complies with laws helps you avoid costly lawsuits or fines.
- Future-proof your website – Stay ahead of evolving accessibility standards. International laws and guidelines are becoming more stringent; designing accessibly now reduces the risk of costly retrofits later. Accessibility enhancements often include improvements to underlying code that sets your website up for compatibility with future browser and operating system versions.
See this case study from Highland Community College, which details the benefits of improving accessibility on their website.
Ready to start making your website accessible?
Whether you’re designing a new website or improving an existing one, accessibility should be a foundational part of your process—not an afterthought. As this infographic and post show, accessible design doesn’t just benefit people with disabilities—it improves the digital experience for everyone, including your team, your customers, and your business.
If you’re ready to take the next step, Equalize Digital is here to help. Our Accessibility Checker plugin makes it easy to find and fix accessibility issues right inside WordPress. We also offer audits, training, and remediation support to guide you every step of the way.
The best time to build accessibility was when you launched. The second-best time is today. Let’s make the web better—together. Contact us to get started now.
