Transcript [00:00:19] Nathan Wrigley: Welcome to the Jukebox Podcast from WP Tavern. My name is Nathan Wrigley. [00:00:26] Jukebox is a podcast which is dedicated to all things WordPress, the people, the events, the plugins, the blocks, the themes, and in this case how web accessibility boosts traffic, SEO, and revenue. [00:00:39] If you’d like to subscribe to the podcast, you can do that by searching for WP Tavern in your podcast player of choice, or by going to wptavern.com/feed/podcast, and you can copy that URL into most podcast players. [00:00:56] If you have a topic that you’d like us to feature on the podcast, I’m keen to hear from you and hopefully get you or your idea featured on the show. Head to wptavern.com/contact/jukebox and use the form there. [00:01:13] So on the podcast today we have Anne Bovelett. [00:01:16] Anne is a seasoned accessibility strategist with many years of experience in the tech industry. Her journey into accessible design began several years ago, and since then, she’s become a passionate advocate for making the web a more inclusive place. Especially for WordPress users and developers. Drawing from her background in consulting, training, and her own experiences, Anne’s work focuses on the intersection of accessibility, universal design, and tangible business outcomes. [00:01:46] This episode explores accessibility, not just as a moral imperative, but as a strategic advantage for website owners and businesses. Anne explains how neglecting accessibility means you are leaving serious money on the table, referencing compelling research from a variety of credible sources. These studies reveal practical data. Compliant sites enjoy increases in organic traffic, a boost in keyword rankings, stronger authority, and significant financial opportunities, sometimes running into millions and even billions. [00:02:22] Anne talks about why accessibility hasn’t always been prioritised on the web, using analogies of the physical world, and the history of web development. She gets into the technical side as well, but this conversation is specifically geared towards the real world, bottom line, business benefits of accessible websites. Reach more users, boost revenue, and even reduce support costs. [00:02:46] If you’re a website owner, developer, or digital business leader who’s ever wondered whether accessibility is worth it, this episode is for you. [00:02:57] If you’re interested in finding out more, you can find all of the links in the show notes by heading to wptavern.com/podcast, where you’ll find all the other episodes as well. [00:03:07] And so without further delay, I bring you Anne Bovelett. [00:03:17] I am joined on the podcast by Anne Bovelett. Hello Anne. [00:03:20] Anne Bovelett: Hi Nathan. Thank you for having me today. [00:03:23] Nathan Wrigley: You are very welcome. Anne and I have been talking for quite a long time before we hit record and we’ve covered a lot of ground. But the ground that we’re going to cover today is all to do with accessibility, your WordPress website and why, well, why you are leaving money on the table if you are not pursuing the accessibility goals that you probably should be in the year 2026. [00:03:43] Before we begin that, I guess it would be a good idea for you, Anne, to give us your credentials. Tell us a little bit about you and how come you get to speak authoritatively about accessibility in WordPress. So over to you, give us your bio. [00:03:55] Anne Bovelett: It’s the most dangerous thing to ask me ever, right? Because I always talk too much. [00:04:01] So let me do it differently this time. When I started figuring out about accessibility, about six years ago, I quickly realised that it’s not that complex to learn accessible coding. It’s not that complex to learn universal design principles. But what is hard for a lot of people working in accessibility is that many of them have this very social way of acting. I do too. I’m in it for the right reason, I think, because I want everybody to have freedom and also the freedom to make the same mistakes that we do, but also not to be constrained in any way. [00:04:46] And then I was speaking to accessibility specialists, remediators, and in every layer of businesses, and I realised that they were being punched upon by organisations because they were just getting too many roles in one. The expectations were insane. So companies were 2 – 3000 people working for them, outputting I don’t know what kinds of digital products and websites, would expect one person to be the accessibility person to guard the compliance. And I mean this is a recipe for burnout 101. [00:05:21] And one thing I don’t have a lack of is a big mouth. And one of the reasons why I started working for myself is because of that big mouth. I was not material to be hired, even though I managed to work for 22 years in employment. I realised at some point, if I ask a good fee, for some reason people take me seriously. Have you ever noticed that, Nathan? The more money you ask for, the more serious they’re going to take you. It’s absolutely ridiculous. But that’s what’s happening. [00:05:59] And so I was trying to find my way in accessibility, like where do I fit in best? And then I thought, I’m going to be the flag bearer and I want to teach companies. And one of the things I like to do is to beat them with their own stick. Because I don’t care why someone makes whatever product, or whatever service they have accessible, I just care that they do. So if the stick that says money works, I’ll beat that. I’ll beat with that. It’s no doubt. [00:06:35] And that’s where my career started changing, and especially since the past one and a half years. Someone said, you should change your job title. You should turn it into Accessibility Strategist. Well, here we are. I don’t care much for titles, but apparently