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Home Blog Why The Disability Market Is Too Big to Ignore
The disability market is one of the largest growth opportunities, but most businesses don’t treat it that way.
Andy Bailey
May 21, 2026
The Return on Disability Group estimates that 1.6 billion people globally have a disability, representing 22% of the global population aged five and above. In North America and Europe alone, people with a disability control more than $2.6 trillion in disposable income. When friends and family are included, the global disability market reaches $18.3 trillion and touches 63% of the global population.
That should stop any serious business leader in their tracks.
This market is an economic powerhouse made up of customers, subscribers, account holders, travellers, shoppers, employees, creators, and decision-makers.
And as purchasing consumers disabled people also remember which brands make those buying and service experiences easier, and which brands make them feel like an afterthought.
If the disability market is this large, then accessibility cannot sit in one team, one audit, or one annual statement.
Accessibility is not one action. It is a business capability. It shows up in what leaders prioritise, how teams are trained, how products are designed, how websites and apps function, how stores operate, how communications are written, and how customers are supported when they need help.
The point is not that every business can fix everything at once. It is that accessibility has to be understood as part of how the business operates, not as an isolated project sitting somewhere between legal, marketing, customer service, and HR.
The Return on Disability Group makes this point clearly… The real value of disability as a market lies in functionality, meaning how people interact with products, services, platforms, and support systems.
That should matter to every commercial leader because functionality is the basis of customer experience.
Can people find what they need? Can they understand it? Can they compare options? Can they buy? Can they use the product? Can they get help when something goes wrong?
For too many disabled customers, the answer is still no.
And if those questions are not answered properly, the size of the market almost becomes irrelevant.
That is why customer experience has to be near the top of the accessibility agenda.
Customer service is where inclusion becomes measurable.
It is where a brand promise either holds up or falls apart very quickly. It is where customers decide whether to stay, switch, complain, recommend, or quietly never come back and tell others not to bother.
And the business case for getting CX right is already clear. McKinsey has found that improving customer journeys can increase revenue by 10 to 15% while reducing cost to serve by 15 to 20%. Also, Accenture estimates that customers switching due to poor service costs U.S. companies alone $1.6 trillion.
That is the broader CX reality. Now apply it to a market where many companies have not designed their service experience to serve properly. For disabled customers, and especially blind and low-vision customers, poor customer service is not just an irritation. It can be the point where the entire customer journey breaks.
A customer may be able to discover your product, compare prices, and complete a purchase. But if they cannot set it up independently, read the instructions, identify a warning light, locate a serial number, or explain a visual problem to an agent, the experience still fails.
This is why customer service deserves more attention in accessibility strategy. It is often the fastest place to make a meaningful improvement because the pain is already visible. Customers are calling. Agents are struggling.
If better service reduces friction, increases resolution, improves loyalty, and lowers cost to serve for the general population, it should be obvious why accessible service matters for a market this large.
Blind and low-vision customers expose one of the most persistent gaps in modern customer experience, and that’s how much of it still assumes sight.
That assumption is everywhere. The tiny serial number on the back of a router. The warning light on an appliance. The inaccessible PDF from a healthcare provider. The visual comparison table on an insurance website. The screenshot a support agent asks a customer to describe. The app flow that works with a screen reader until the one button that does not.
This matters because customer service is meant to remove friction. But traditional service models often add more of it for blind and low-vision customers.
The agent asks, “What do you see?”
The customer cannot answer.
The agent has no visual context.
The call gets longer.
The issue escalates.
The customer becomes frustrated.
The brand loses trust.
And the cost doesn’t stay contained – it shows up in longer calls, more escalations, lower satisfaction, abandoned journeys, avoidable returns, and customers who quietly move to a brand that makes life easier.
The Be My Eyes Customer Accessibility Suite is built for exactly this gap.
It helps organizations make customer service accessible to blind and low-vision people by combining AI, live video, secure visual support, and direct access to the world’s largest community of blind and low-vision users.
Service Connect lets customers find a brand inside the Be My Eyes app and reach live agents or AI support directly. Service Stream converts any standard service phone call into a secure live video session through a browser link, allowing the agent to see for themselves what the error code is or what warning lights might be on. Service AI front-primes a customer’s call with sophisticated AI interpreting a photo snapped on the user’s smartphone and providing an immediate solution or suggesting an escalation to an agent if needed. The impact is practical and immediate.
When agents (or AI) can see what the customer cannot, they can resolve issues faster and guide the customer through a process that would otherwise be slow and frustrating over voice alone.
If your business would like to start better serving the disabled market, including customers who are blind or have low-vision, then find out more about our Customer Accessibility Suite or request a free demo today.
Let’s make good business accessible and turn accessibility into a genuine growth advantage.
