**1. Introduction**

Our research interest here is the apparent lack of access to the population sub-group of people living with disabilities and the economy they possess, due to the currently sub-optimal provision of accessibility in e-business services. The study is centered around the link between concepts of social justice, inclusion, and access on one hand, and concepts of market share and business profit on the other. It is based on the view we put forward here, that the sub-population of people living with disabilities is substantially and continually increased by those who are progressing in various aspects of impairment, and that they possess the capacity to make economic decisions and effective demand of business services, including e-business services.

People living with disabilities have certain conditions, and due to the lack of enablement by their circumstances/environment, they are unable to function fully and independently in life. It should be viewed as an outcome of the complex relationship between the impaired person and their environmental factors which essentially result in the situation of disability in human functionality [1–3]. It could be obvious or hidden, temporary, progressive, permanent, continuous, or situational, etc. [1]. There are various types and degrees of impairment. It generally refers to the senses and motor ability, such as sight, hearing, touch/feeling, mobility, and cognition [1, 4]. These types and their respective degrees of impairment, place limitations on how well individuals can use conventional systems of information and communication. Such systems arguably include physical products, the internet, digitized information such as apps, websites, electronic documents, and other digital media such as video, audio, graphics, and animation. There is therefore arguable need to provide accessibility to such nature of information for people with relevant disabilities.

Accessibility in digital information refers to the provision of ways and means through which people with various disabilities can access digitized information. It is the application of the principles of universal accessibility (UA), as expressed by the UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities [5], UN disability and development report [6], UN DESA-UNESCO forum on disability and development [7]; and whose general approach and methodology is provided in the International Standard Organization (ISO) ISO/IEC GUIDE 71: 2014 [8]. Digital accessibility is provided for in the ISO 30071-1 standards [9]. There is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG20) by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which is universally adopted [10], with the four principles emphasizing that content must be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust for current and future technologies [11]. As highlighted in the e-Accessibility policy toolkit, the approach should be to balance relevant factors, in providing access to full participation and independent living to all. The factors include "utility, usability, accessibility, desirability, affordability, viability and compatibility" [12].

Apps, Web and electronic document accessibility, are areas of concern for e-business services, being the medium through which, electronic services are offered to the public, by companies offering e-business services [13, 14]. e-Business is the use of information and communication technologies, with electronic means, in the digital realm, to transact information in the supply and value chains of business, as opposed to the traditional, manual, physical human interface and agency-based models [15, 16]. e-Business services are applied in various aspects of life including general e-commerce, supply chain management, customer relationship management, business intelligence, enterprise application, etc. [16, 17]. Most, if not all, currently available e-businesses, offer services to a wide range of customers, including the population sub-group of disabled people. This chapter deals with accessibility for the web, electronic document, and digital media, through which e-businesses package and deliver their services.

The provision of relevant types of accessibility for impaired people is viewed as an ideal goal and necessity. There are other initiatives such as the Web Accessibility Initiative [18], WAI-ARIA, the Accessible Rich Internet Applications suite of web standards [19], and A11Y Project [20]. In some cases, digital accessibility is regulated and enforced. For example, there is the European accessibility act of 2019 [21]. There are relevant laws in various countries, from Asia to Europe and the Americas [22–24]. In the context of the United States of America (USA), there is the Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, with the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Standards and Guidelines, under enforcement in USA agencies [25]. There is also the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

*Accessibility Experience Design (AxD): A Bi-directional Accessibility Perspective for e-Business… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97488*

(ADA) with the ADA Standards for Accessible Design (1991 Standards), and the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design [26].

The need and awareness for accessibility, the global conventions and policies, and regional and national laws, should constitute substantial legal, social, and economic motivations for the speedy adoption of accessibility standards globally. However, the visible level and rate of adoption is still low, and absent in some cases. For example, the WebAIM case study of top 1million websites in February 2020, found that 98.1% of home pages exhibited automatically detectable WCAG2 failures [27].

Apparently, the general view of accessibility has not evolved into that of a business opportunity, which will be inherently motivating to the business community, and therefore drive more adoption. In the USA for example, the total number of ADA lawsuits in 2019 was 11, 053, while the state of California recorded 1885 lawsuits in 2019 [28]. Furthermore, 4, 759 lawsuits were filed in federal courts within the first half of 2020 [29]. Considering the trend of lawsuits, there is a need for more motivation towards the speedy adoption of accessible design. The reported legal trends will only support the current trend of minimal adoption, and at the level of minimum requirements. Our argument in this chapter is that e-businesses need a perspective that sees the provision of accessibility, as a means to gain access to the sub-population of people living with disability. The concept of Bi-directional Accessibility in e-business services, if adopted, would achieve substantial improvement in the approach to accessibility, which will increase adoption, especially in e-business service delivery.

#### **1.1 The concept of Bi-directional accessibility for e-business services**

Bi-directional accessibility can be thought of as a philosophical view of accessibility which says that when a barrier between two parties is removed, access is achieved, not only for one party, but for the two. Using the analogy of a physical space with secure access: When the door is opened, it gives access to the person without to enter the room, while giving access to the person within, to exit the room into the space from where the other person enters the room. Using the analogy of the internet service: When someone uses a computing device such as a tablet computer to access a website, the unique internet protocol (IP) address of the device is registered with the service provider. The act of accessing the website automatically makes it possible for the website administrator to determine the IP address of the device, which can be used to trace it. The idea of bi-directional accessibility is currently applied in internet services. A key example is where websites offer free resources, which require visitors to enter contact details such as email address. Some websites will send a link to the free resource, to the email address as a validating measure. Currently, due to regulations on the use of personal information [30], visitors would be made to agree to privacy policies, before accessing some of these free resources online. By accessing the free resource, the visitor willingly gives the website administrator their email address and agrees to receiving information from them such as promotions and newsletters. This simple transaction gives many web-based businesses access to an ever-growing customer base. In practice, many such visitors evolve into customers in their database, which is an increase in market share. The Bi-directional accessibility perspective says that if e-business services make accessibility a priority and implement it fully, they will gain access to the market share that is made up by people with various disabilities. Essentially it provides a combined view of accessibility, where the inclusivity factor is balanced with the business case. Adopting this view will make businesses more proactive in the provision of accessibility in their digital space, as opposed to being compelled by

the threat of lawsuits. Businesses will then go beyond providing basic accessibility, to providing what we have classified as 'Accessibility Experience Design' (AxD), in the design of their e-business services. However, this notion may not be enough to drive more adoption of UA in e-business services. To promote this paradigm shift, the business case needs to be made and a deeper understanding needs to be built.

#### **1.2 The case for bi-directional accessibility for e-business services**

The case for accessibility is emphasized by the global charters and standards which have been referred to earlier. Furthermore, there are historical precedents supporting the case for accessibility. Such precedents include the conventions, regulations, and ordinances that are available at the global, regional, and country levels. There are also accessibility standards from W3C.

Regardless of these developments, the concept of e-Business Accessibility seems not to have taken root with the right perspective, as businesses which have internet presence have all not become universally accessible. Also, efforts to make internet presence accessible, seem to be driven by concerns about possible legal liabilities. The apparent notion seems to be that of providing access to people with limitations/impairments, as opposed to creating an avenue through which both service provider and client can access each other. The mutuality of the benefits of Web and electronic document accessibility is not emphasized in the business case for the provision of accessibility by e-business services.

An important issue is the 2020 Covid-19 global lockdowns, which have continued into 2021. It has resulted in a massive shift to provision, or supplementation of services through electronic channels. Although it would be a welcome development for many people with disabilities because it should present ease of access, this is not the case. Many websites, apps and e-documents are still inaccessible to people with disabilities. The people most affected are those with vision, hearing, motor, and cognitive disabilities. However, the result of this limited access to e- business services by people with disabilities, also means that those businesses have limited access to the wealth base controlled by such people.

This is a pertinent issue since businesses are set up for profit. It follows then, that a paradigm shift is needed from mere provision of access to disabled people, to creating mutual access between businesses and the sub-population group of disabled people. This philosophy is what we refer to as Bi-directional Accessibility for e-business services, the business case for accessibility. Arguably, it is applicable to other areas of life where there is need to improve the extent of transactional relationships. There is a need to view accessibility holistically, beyond the issue of social justice. There is a need for a wider and more balanced view, which includes the perspective of accessibility as a meaningful business expansion tool, for accessing a substantial section of the market.

For this paradigm to be adopted from a business profit perspective, the business case needs to be substantiated by providing data, from where relevant conjectures can be drawn. Hence a research design was set up on the derived aim of the study:

To identify and substantiate the relevant market population factors which justify the need for bi-directional accessibility for e-business services and build a basic understanding of its application.

## **2. Research design for the study**

Due to the nature of the study as dictated by the stated aim, a mix of quantitative and qualitative data was needed. Additional research was carried out through

#### *Accessibility Experience Design (AxD): A Bi-directional Accessibility Perspective for e-Business… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.97488*

a pragmatic process, using a rather abductive reasoning approach [31, 32], through a multi-staged, mixed method approach [33, 34]. The research involved a review of purposively selected research documents and reports, demographic analysis of existing population data, and scenario and user analyses. Review of literature has been used to identify the drivers or market factors, in the preceding background to the study. Relevant population research output was analyzed, while existing population data set was used to perform additional demographic analysis. Through this multi-layered approach, the demographic dynamics of the disabled sub-population groups and their market implications, are determined and used as basis for scenario building [35, 36], and analysis of the user experience of disabled persons. The research design exploits the strengths of Survey strategy, literature review [37, 38], Design research, empathy probe and persona analysis [39, 40], and user experience research [41, 42].

For manageability, the study was scoped down to the geographical region of the USA as a country. However, comparison with non-US data is used to introduce the themes under which results are presented. A purposive sampling approach was adopted for the study, for relevant sources of data, which are grouped under, fact sheets, research publications, design manuals, and the US census data set. A sample size of 12 data sources was used for the study. A systematic literature survey using Google Scholar and the plain Google search engine were used to identify and select key research. Data was extracted and interrogated through content analysis of fact sheets and research publications, and descriptive statistical analysis of the US census data set. **Table 1** shows details of the data sources.

The hybrid methodology provides a framework for highlighting the potential strength of the disabled sub-population. It sheds light on the negative customer


#### **Table 1.**

*Details of the study sample of data sources.*

experience and loss of business opportunities, and the possible gains of applying bidirectional accessibility. Results are presented hereunder.
