UK charities could be missing out on up to £65 million a year in online donations. Not because people don’t want to give, but because accessibility barriers can make it harder to complete the donation process.
The figure comes from research commissioned by Giant Digital. In a OnePoll survey of 600 disabled and neurodivergent UK adults, almost half said accessibility issues had put them off donating online.
What “inaccessible” looks like in practice
It’s rarely one big, obvious problem. It’s often a series of smaller barriers:
- A donation form that a screen reader can’t read aloud properly
- Text or buttons that are too small to read or tap on mobile
- A “Donate” button with no label, so assistive tech can’t tell the user what it does
- Poor colour contrast that makes amounts or form fields hard to read
- No way to complete the form using only a keyboard
Any one of these could make a donor give up.
Nearly a third of people surveyed said websites don’t meet their needs. A similar number felt website creators don’t understand accessibility. Almost half said an accessibility barrier had put them off making an online donation.
More than one in five people in the UK live with a disability. That’s a large number of people who could visit your donation page.
A 60-second self-check
Before you arrange an audit or ask for help, take a minute to check your donation journey:
- Have you tested your donation form with a screen reader, or watched someone who uses one try it?
- Can someone complete the whole donation journey using only a keyboard, no mouse or trackpad?
- Is your “Donate” button clearly labelled for assistive tech, as well as being clear to sighted users?
- Does your site have good colour contrast, especially on donation amounts and error messages?
- Has anyone outside your team, ideally a disabled user, tried to donate through your site in the last year?
If you answered “no” or “not sure” to any of these, there could be accessibility barriers in your donation journey. It’s worth checking them before Giving Tuesday brings more people to your site.
Why this matters right now
Giving Tuesday and the Christmas period can bring more people to your donation page. But donors who face a barrier may not come back and try again. They could give elsewhere, or not donate at all.
The good news is that these problems don’t always require a website rebuild. Many can be fixed once you know where to look.
If you’d like to explore how accessibility technology can support your website visitors, get in touch with the Recite Me team to find out more.
