A cost-modeling framework and interactive tool that quantifies the financial impact of inaccessible apps in Europe, especially with the launch of the European Accessibility Act (EAA). This resource helps accessibility advocates and champions get an estimated financial loss caused by unaddressed inaccessibility of a digital product — by considering the population of the market living with disability, the market penetration rate, revenue per user and acquisition index. The resource explains all these terms in detail and provides guidance on where advocates can source them.
The book also includes a calculator that helps the reader estimate the actual impact in terms of financial losses. The calculator comes pre-loaded with values for fines per country and the estimated population per country living with disability. In the background, the calculator uses this formula:
Lost Revenue = RPU × AI × MRP × Population with Disabilities
What problem does it solve?
- Accessibility is often dismissed as a "moral cause" without strong financial justification.
- The traditional method of estimating people with accessibility needs is to check how many users are using the product with one or more assistive technologies enabled on their phone. This method overlooks how many people are unable to use the product because it is inaccessible.
- The financial impact paired with the actual budget makes it easier to calculate ROI, making it easier for leadership to evaluate the initiative.
What makes it innovative?
- Uses WHO disability data and EU population figures to show actual customer exclusion by region
- Includes legal risk modeling using country-specific fines under the European Accessibility Act (EAA), launching June 28, 2025
- Introduces a ready-to-use calculator tool that lets product leaders simulate revenue loss and legal exposure by country
- Backed by real case studies from Microsoft, Airbnb, Bank of America, and Tesco that demonstrate measurable ROI from accessibility
- Offers regional breakdowns of disability-related exclusion and loss, encouraging teams to act locally and scale globally
- Enlists the non-direct costs of inaccessibility like reputational damages, increased marketing costs for remediation, and loss of sales
- Enlists the maximum penalties for inaccessibility per country under the European Accessibility Act (EAA)
- Packages everything into an accessible, narrative-driven format with humor, storytelling, and metaphors that simplify complex math and regulation
Impact Potential
- Fastest way to reach an ROI calculation for any accessibility initiative
- More impactful in regions like South East Asia, where accessibility is not mandated by law — though South Korea has announced their framework and Singapore is in the process of launching EMP 2030, which mandates digital products and services to be accessible by law
- Can speed up leadership investment in accessibility initiatives
Recognition
"We were sold the moment we saw the €56,000 per month revenue loss visualized in just two countries. This tool changed our roadmap."