What is Purple Tuesday and why you should care about it

What is Purple Tuesday and why you should care about it

People with disabilities in the UK have a spending power worth £274 billion, yet it's challenging to have a fulfilling shopping experience.

October 2021


Purple Tuesday is an initiative created by Purple - an organisation that believes in bringing disabled people and businesses together to change the conversation from one of disadvantage and inequality to one about potential and value for all parties involved.

Tuesday 2nd of November is a day dedicated to Accessible Shopping and meaningful conversations around the subject of inclusion and accessibility.

Why is Purple Day so important?

#PurpleTuesday is about creating a step-change improvement in the awareness of the value and needs of disabled customers, and it is about making the customer experience accessible.

We are proud participants of the initiative, as inclusion and acceptance have always been pillars of the Blue Badge Co-culture. 

Blue Badge Co team members are holding a whiteboard with text saying "I stand for accessibility for all"

 

We implemented a new website last year that is more accessible and easier for customers to use. We are invested in releasing new products that can help make a difference in people's lives each year. We hope that more and more organisations will open a path towards the disability market.

"Shopping should be a pleasant experience, but for many disabled people it can often be the cause of distress and frustration. By failing to cater to their disabled customers, many businesses are missing out on billions of pounds and denying disabled people the opportunity to enjoy something which many people take for granted."

Sarah Newton, ex UK Minister for Disabled People, Work and Health

Providing an accessible shopping experience is not only a matter of legal compliance but ethically crucial. Offering goods and services in ways that potentially discriminate against a fifth of your customer base is outrageous.

Graphic with white text over purple background saying The Purple Pound is worth £274 billions in the UK

An initiative from RNIB shows us one of the many struggles disabled customers face daily. This video shines a light on the shopping experience considering packaging, something we all take for granted.
How would your shopping experience change is you could only see the colour of the packaging and no information?

There is so much more to weigh in: e-commerce, physical access, user interface design of menus and apps, education, alt descriptions on Social Media and the list keeps growing.


 

Interesting insights on accessibility and behaviour

The Click-Away Pound survey found that 71% of disabled customers will leave a website that they find too difficult to use and 82% of customers with access needs would spend more if websites were more accessible. Those who click away have an estimated combined spending power of GBP 12bn, around 10% of the total UK online spend in 2016.

As the numbers shout, failing to provide an accessible shopping experience is a gigantic missed opportunity for retailers. We are proud to be part of the 10% minority that cares about accessibility and improves daily to ensure a flawless shopping experience to all.

Here are the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) explained:

There are four key terms to keep in mind when designing the perfect website: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable and Robust. If you're not entirely sure what that means, don't worry, we're going to break it down below:

Perceivable:
  • Provide text alternatives and captions for all multimedia (videos & images)
  • Create content that can be presented in through a range of mediums
  • Make it easier for users to hear and see content
Operable:
  • Ensure all functionality is available via the keyboard e.g any action can be done with a keyboard shortcut
  • Always give enough time to users to read content
  • Avoid the use of content that causes seizures or similar physical reactions
  • Help should be offered to users to navigate website
  • Make it easy to use inputs other than the keyboard
Understandable: 
  • All text should be clear and easy to understand - always double check for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors
  • Content should appear and operate in predictable ways
Robust:
  • Ensure there is compatibility with all current user tools and future tools
Woman holding a Blue Badge Wallet with bees design in front of the steering wheel inside a car

Do you want to check if your website is meeting all of the guidelines mentioned above? Take a look at the different accessibility testing services we recommend!:


Benefits of getting your website tested for accessibility:

  • Everyone can use the website easily even if they have a disability
  • It improves your overall user experience, they are more likely to recommend the website to others
  • Accessibility guidelines overlap with good SEO practices 
  • You can showcase a WCAG conformance badge on website 
  • You get documented evidence that your website conforms with guidelines

Why is it so important to meet accessibility guidelines?

  • 15% of the population have disabilities which impact their day to day lives. If a website is inaccessible then this stops potential customers using it, for example, two thirds of transactions are abandoned by the blind due to a lack of accessibility. 
  • People with disabilities spend half a trillion dollars annually, however 73% of people in the UK have trouble when completing transactions on over a quarter of the websites they visit, which shows even more revenue can be made if more websites became accessible.
  • Non accessible websites are losing $6.9 billion a year compared to accessible websites, this proves that accessibility has a great impact on revenue and those companies who aren’t accessible are losing out. 
Infographics from Whoisaccessible.com about benefits of accessibility for all

The web is used for so many purposes, whether that be for work, education or shopping. It is part of everyone’s day to day life, therefore it is essential that people with disabilities are catered for as well to ensure that nobody is missing out. 

When you shop at 
Blue Badge Co remember we are committed to enhance independence and enriching the lives of all disabled people in the UK and around the world. When shopping with us, feel free to share any feedback that could help us improve.

Statistics used within this blog were taken from monsido 

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