Bnode is a digital agency based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.

One of Bnode’s specialisms is accessible website design and build, and they work with businesses and organisations across the Yorkshire and Humber region.

It’s undoubtedly best to design and build your website with inclusivity, usability and accessibility in mind from the very start - something Bnode does when building new websites for their clients. 

But, not all businesses are considering the needs of disabled consumers when bringing products and services to the market.

Products and services should be inclusive by default, but by failing to embrace inclusive design businesses risk missing out on the spending power of disabled consumers - known as the ‘Purple Pound’.

Do you know how many people in Yorkshire and the Humber are disabled?

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that in 2021 nearly 19% of the population in the Yorkshire and The Humber region identified as disabled - approximately 1 million people.

The 2021 Census also revealed that 414k people in West Yorkshire were disabled, which equates to almost 18% of the population.

In Leeds alone, an estimated 1 in 30 residents has a visual impairment, though not all are registered. That equates to approximately 25,000 Leeds residents.

Lancashire, by way of comparison, has 44,000 people living with sight loss in the Lancashire region according to RNIB Sight Loss Data Tool estimates (Source: Lancashire County Council).

That's a lot of people to be potentially excluding - across the Yorkshire region and beyond.

If people can’t read or navigate your website properly they can’t buy your products or use your services, and they will go elsewhere - taking their spend with them.

Disability charity Scope UK believes businesses ignore the power of the ‘Purple Pound’ at their peril. The Purple Pound is the spending power of disabled people and their households, and this market alone is worth an estimated £274 billion a year! What's more, Scope’s Big Hack research revealed that 75% of disabled people think that business is missing out because it’s not embracing the Purple Pound.

Businesses across Yorkshire and the UK are losing out on this potential revenue because their online services are not sufficiently inclusive and accessible enough. But, it doesn’t have to be that way and you don’t have to be one of those businesses.

Building an accessible website is important to attract and keep Purple Pound customers, but a fully accessible website that’s also inclusive and user-friendly benefits all customers and clients. 

If you're looking for a new website, why not make it an accessible one and contact us at Bnode for a quote today.