Don't count your screen reader users.

August 2022 — The gist: If your app isn't enjoyable for screen reader users, they are probably not using it and can't be counted anyway. The number of screen reader users who use your app shouldn’t determine whether you design for them.

The other day I was chatting with a colleague about some of the intricacies of designing good screen reader experiences. They suggested, "Shouldn't we measure how many of our customers actually use screen readers before we start dedicating resources toward this?"

I get how this can make sense at first—why go through the extra effort of designing for a set of users if they'll only account for a tiny amount of total users? Couldn't we do something more important with our resources?

My first thought to this type of inquiry is if just one person—our CEO—used a screen reader, designing for screen reader users wouldn't even be a question.

Not designing with screen reader users in mind is obviously frustrating your current users who use screen readers. But remember: If your app isn't accessible, folks who use assistive technologies have probably moved on. If so... who's left to count?

When we count how many current users rely on screen readers, or any other assistive technologies, we aren't actually measuring all of the people who would benefit from inclusive design. Counting screen reader users hardly makes sense in any discussion about the importance of accessibility.

Furthermore, should any person ever be treated merely as an edge case?