Go digitally accessible and welcome up to 25% more visitors
Catchy title? Thanks, but it’s also a fact, as European research shows. Say you launch a new website. The design, the copy, the flow: it all checks out. And yet you’re missing out on a quarter of your potential visitors because they can’t do enough with your website: they can’t find the right buttons, can’t read the text, can’t fill in the form… Not because they don’t want to, but because your site wasn’t made for them. Welcome, digital accessibility. Welcome, WCAG 2.1.
So what exactly is WCAG?
WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Sounds technical, but above all it’s essential. It’s a set of international guidelines on how best to make a website or digital application accessible to people with disabilities: people who are visually or hearing impaired, or who have a motor or cognitive disability.
These guidelines rest on four principles that form the foundation of digital accessibility:
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Perceivable: Information must be visible or audible to anyone, including screen readers.
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Operable: Your site must be usable in different ways, with different interfaces like your keyboard, mouse, voice and touchscreen.
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Understandable: Content and navigation must be clear and logical for the user.
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Robust: Everything has to work reliably, ideally with assistive technologies and older browsers too.
WCAG is pretty much the UX that should let everyone - especially the 25% of potential visitors you’re missing right now - experience your website in the best possible conditions.
Why WCAG helps your visitors and you
✔️ You show who you are as a brand
In Belgium, more than one in four people live with some form of disability. That’s almost 3 million people. Add seniors who struggle with the latest digital trends and the “temporarily impaired” (read: broken arms, bad Wi-Fi …), and you suddenly realize digital accessibility is more the rule than the exception.
Inclusion and accessibility are must-haves today that let you make a statement. Your brand takes accessibility seriously. It makes you likable, empathetic and trustworthy. And rest assured, employees and customers notice and appreciate it.
✔️ The quality of your site shoots up
Accessible websites have been thought through. You can tell from the clear structure, content, navigation and other things specialists spot right away. That high quality is good for all sorts of things: your SEO, your bounce rate and conversion. Win-win-win and a big fat ka-ching.
✔️ You avoid legal hassle
More on that in a bit, but spoiler alert: ignoring it is not the way to go.
Is WCAG mandatory?
Yes, it’s mandatory, and you won’t have much choice but to play along. Until now, the guidelines mainly applied to government bodies. Under the Web Accessibility Directive, they’ve had to make sure their websites and apps are accessible at WCAG 2.1 level AA since 2020.
Since late June 2025, the European Accessibility Act (EAA) has been in force, and it also applies to the private sector. If you run a webshop or are active in telecom, streaming, banking or transport services, or in any form of e-commerce, you’re legally required to be e-inclusive and make your digital products WCAG 2.1 AA compliant. Companies that receive public funding or provide public services obviously fall under this legislation too.
So that might include you. But don’t panic: Hannibal has the experts on board to screen and check your products, and give you tips and advice to make everything compliant.
“And what if I don’t?”
Glad you asked. We’ve arrived at the legal hassle. Ignore these guidelines and the lost customers and brand damage speak for themselves. People who can’t use your content drop off and don’t come back. Simple. A well-founded complaint about your digital inaccessibility can cause PR damage that haunts you for a long time. Because customers can take legal action if your site isn’t usable for them. And the government can hit you with fines and sanctions.
How do you get it all sorted, fast?
Take us up on our offer for a WCAG audit. Let our experts map out potential bottlenecks with a tailored analysis. Get concrete advice from our digital experts and visual tips from our designers. We’ll give you a clear report and propose optimization without a redesign wherever possible. That way, we make sure you’re up to speed and stay there.
Digital accessibility doesn’t have to put the brakes on your entrepreneurship, creativity or performance. See it as a (forced) opportunity to strengthen your brand further. It may be a must today, but you’ll notice the difference tomorrow.
