Web Accessibility Compliance in Localisation: The Missing Link for an Optimal End User Experience

In an increasingly competitive business landscape, the ever-evolving localisation industry is now striving for differentiation. One of the strategies adopted, particularly by the largest multinationals, has been to expand their service coverage beyond traditional localisation and the provision of translation technology to satisfy new digital market needs. Concretely, we have observed a considerable increase in the number of companies showcasing knowledge and know-how in Digital Marketing and User Experience Design, always with a clear goal: enhancing the final end user experience when interacting with multilingual web content. But are we really ensuring an optimal experience for all? If the localisation industry is looking to consolidate this strengthened service portfolio, awareness of key human-computer interaction aspects and best practices, including web accessibility standards, could be crucial for success. Drawing upon the data collected through a series of interviews with representatives of six world-leading multinational companies from the localisation industry and one of their clients, this paper will report on the readiness of current localisation workflows and professionals to deliver more accessible multilingual websites for all. We will also review the overlaps between responsive design, SEO and current web accessibility guidelines, and present how their compliance could bring competitive advantage to localisation businesses