Business Sense
Developing universally designed print and web materials is just good business. Whether you are writing informational pamphlets for a small business or designing web content for a multinational corporation, universally designing the material will increase consumers' access to information. This especially holds true for online content development. Because so many people look for information online, that information should be as accessible as possible. The more people have access to information, the bigger the market share for companies.
In addition to increasing market share, businesses and organizations that employ Universal Design in their literature are likely to gain respect from their home community as well as the larger, online community. Frustrated people don’t make good customers, as seen in the Target scandal in which online information was not accessible for customers with vision problems. The customers sued Target for accessibility violations. This shows that, even though the ADA technically only applies to government-run and government-funded organizations, web content has to be accessible in the private sector as well. Inaccessible material creates a bad reputation in certain communities, so writers and web developers need to be aware of that.
In the development stage of designing print and web materials, carefully consider the intended audience. Consider who is the most likely group of people to use your website or read your printed material. What groups could be excluded by the design of your information? People with disabilities? Older people? People with limited bandwidth or who live in rural areas? People with limited education or knowledge of the native language? Asking these kinds of questions can help guide design in the right direction to include the most people.