How many Persons do you lose without digital Accessibility?

If you think you won't lose visitors if your digital offerings aren't accessible, then you should think again. Here are some interesting statistics.

Low contrast in text and UI elements

The problem

The ability to perceive contrast begins to decline slowly from the age of 40 to 50. However, a significant decline usually occurs from the age of 60 to 70.

Causes of contrast loss in old age:

  • Reduced pupillary response → Less light reaches the eye.
  • Clouding of the lens (e.g., due to cataracts) → Scattered light reduces contrast.
  • Decrease in retinal cells (especially in the macula) → Weaker signal processing.
  • Changes in the brain (visual processing) → Weaker interpretation of contrasts.

Consequences:

  • Reading difficulties (e.g., gray text on a white background)
  • Trouble recognizing UI elements on graphical user interfaces such as applications and machines

Result

According to data from the Federal Statistical Office, in 2023, approximately 5.86% of the population had Age group of 60 to 64 year olds. In addition, around 22% of the population was 65 years or older in 2022. This means that around 28% of the German population will be 60 years or older in 2023. The number of older people is increasing, but their vision is not.

Animation, movement, flashing, and flickering

  • 30% of people have some form of visual sensitivity to motion effects such as parallax scrolling or animated backgrounds. (W3C Accessibility Guidelines)
  • 10% of users have vestibular disorders, which means that animations, rapid movements, or flashing text can trigger nausea, dizziness, or headaches. (Vestibular Disorders Association, 2021)
  • Epilepsy affects approximately 1 in 100 people, and strong flashing effects (especially with frequencies between 3 and 60 Hz) can trigger seizures. (Epilepsy Foundation, 2022)
  • Flickering content with more than three flashes per second can be dangerous for over 5% of people with photosensitive epilepsy. (W3C, WCAG 2.1)

Conclusion: Careless animations and flashing effects can cause real problems for millions of people—and cause them to leave a website immediately.

Understandable Language

  • More than 20% of adults in Germany have only basic literacy skills, meaning that around one-fifth of the population struggles to understand complex content. (LEO Study, 2018)
  • 28% of adults with low literacy skills in the US (approximately 32 million people) reported that they often avoid online shopping and banking because the user interfaces are too complex and they have difficulty understanding the instructions. (National Assessment of Adult Literacy, 2021)

Subtitles

  • Over 80% of Netflix and other streaming service viewers say they occasionally or regularly use subtitles, especially when watching in a different language or when background noise makes dialogue difficult to understand. (Netflix, 2021)
  • 70% of viewers worldwide watch content with subtitles at least occasionally. This applies not only to people with hearing impairments, but also to users who don't have the sound on or who watch films in a foreign language.
    • (W3C, 2020)
  • 25% of people worldwide regularly use subtitles for TV programs and films, even if they don't have a hearing impairment. This demonstrates the growing popularity of subtitles to enhance the viewing experience, especially for international content. (British Deaf Association, 2019)
  • 80% of people watch videos without sound when in public or noisy environments (e.g., on transport, in cafes, or in offices). If subtitles aren't available, they often abandon the video or don't watch it at all.
    • (Verizon Media, 2020)
  • 71% of online video viewers said it would be more likely to watch the video if subtitles were available, especially if they were watching in a different language or in a noisy environment. (W3C, 2021)
  • 55% of people with hearing impairments said they often abandon or skip watching videos if subtitles aren't available. This applies not only to YouTube videos, but also to streaming services and social media content. (National Association of the Deaf, 2020)
  • A study by Ofcom (2019) showed that 51% of viewers in the UK do not access or play videos if subtitles are not available, especially if the content is in another language or they are watching in a noisy environment.
  • Over 50% of YouTube users have stated that they do not watch videos if subtitles are not available, especially if they are in another language or if they do not have good language skills. (YouTube, 2021)

Color blindness

Worldwide, approximately 8 to 10% of men and approximately 0.5% of women are affected by color blindness. The most common are red-green color blindness, while yellow-blue color blindness and the inability to distinguish colors in general are much less common.

Color blindness can affect the use of digital user interfaces (websites, apps, software) in several ways:

Impacts

  • People with color blindness cannot correctly distinguish certain color combinations – e.g., red and green or blue and yellow. If important information is communicated only through color (e.g., red error messages, green confirmations), they may miss or misunderstand it.
  • Color-dependent navigation elements or buttons that lack additional markings (such as icons, textures, or shapes) are more difficult to recognize. This can cause frustration and complicate use.
  • Misinterpretations of colors can lead users to perform incorrect actions or miss important information. This reduces efficiency and increases the error rate.
  • Designs that rely heavily on color contrast without providing alternative visual cues are less inclusive. This can prevent people with color vision deficiency from enjoying the full user experience.

Accessibility Business