An accessible, unified customer experience is no longer a “nice-to-have” feature in a company’s support platforms. Next year, it’s going to be a legal requirement.
The EU Accessibility Act will go into effect in June 2025, and it will require companies to update their customer support and engagement channels to be more accessible to older or disabled site visitors. EU citizens will be able to file complaints against companies that don’t meet the accessibility standards across their digital properties, resulting in fines and other damaging consequences.
While many companies might view this as just another compliance box to check, it’s actually a prime opportunity to elevate and enrich the customer experience beyond accessibility alone.
Beyond compliance: A catalyst for customer experience
The required accessibility upgrades will demand dedicated budgets and resources — investments that will be non-negotiable by 2025. With these resources already allocated to support platform improvements, why not use them to address key customer experience enhancements that may have been sidelined or delayed due to cost or other priorities?
There’s a strong argument that a unified digital experience that creates a seamless navigation between different support functions is just as beneficial for the customer as accessibility upgrades. In a few cases, they may be one and the same. By using accessibility as a springboard to enhance the entire customer experience, companies can increase customer engagement, satisfaction and revenue, all while fulfilling compliance standards.
It would, however, be a wasted opportunity to only look at enhancing the customer experience across one or two main touchpoints or platforms. A lot of teams may want to be compliant on the bare minimum, such as the website and helpdesk ticket system, while ignoring the other channels in the journey.
A holistic approach to customer experience
If you’re going to make customer experience enhancements, it pays to look at the customer experience holistically and see if improvements can be made across the entire journey, rather than for a few crucial touchpoints. Evaluate the channels beyond the immediate customer service portals and imagine an experience that seamlessly pulls in content and workflows from marketing, product, sales and community.
This requires a customer experience audit, and a technology audit to see just how much integration will be needed to deliver the North Star vision of a unified experience. Consider dedicated platform integration solutions (such as iTalent’s SmartConX) that can do the heavy lifting of backend integration while still allowing for extensions relevant to each company’s goals.
The EU Accessibility Act might seem like a scary deadline, but it’s a catalyst for an enhanced customer experience, and an enhanced business, if you know how to capitalize on the opportunity with the right resources.
Key steps to take:
Conduct a customer experience and accessibility audit: Begin by auditing existing customer experience and accessibility gaps across all touchpoints, not just the website and helpdesk. This will reveal the areas that require immediate improvement.
Map out the customer journey holistically: Identify all customer interaction points and assess how each could benefit from a unified, accessible experience, considering the brand experience and usability across disparate functions like marketing, sales, and community engagement.
Allocate a budget for enhancements beyond compliance: Plan for and allocate resources not only to meet accessibility standards but also to enhance the overall experience, taking advantage of the required investment for a broader CX overhaul.
Evaluate integration solutions: Look into platform integration solutions that can streamline backend operations and create a seamless experience. Solutions like iTalent's SmartConX can reduce the time and resources needed for multi-platform integration, freeing them up for additional CX enhancements.
Develop a compliance and CX enhancement roadmap: Create a strategic roadmap that aligns compliance milestones with broader customer experience goals, leveraging accessibility requirements to build an integrated, value-driven customer experience by 2025.
By taking these steps, companies can ensure they not only meet accessibility requirements but also capitalize on the opportunity to enhance customer engagement, satisfaction, and loyalty.
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