The use of the internet and business websites for a variety of business and leisure activities is now very widespread amongst first world economies and this includes 20% of the population who are elderly or have some form of disability.
Some people with disabilities find using the internet difficult and we also know that many web sites do not accommodate people with visual or other disabilities. It is important that all business website owners strive to make their websites as accessible as possible. If not, you may be in breach of the UK Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). Similar legislation exists in other countries including the US, Canada and Australia.
Web accessibility should be part of your Digital Internet Marketing plan and is about making your website accessible to all Internet users (both disabled and non-disabled), regardless of what browsing technology they’re using. In addition to complying with the law, an accessible website can reap huge benefits for business by increasing the traffic to the site and enhancing the site’s reputation.
An accessible website ensures that all visitors have the same user experience whether they use assistive technology or not. As a minimum, websites should meet the level 1 (and in part level 2) of the W3C’s (Web Accessibility Initiative) standards and guidelines for creating accessible websites.
There are two very good reasons why businesses should start taking these issues seriously, simply put:
- An accessible website will make you more money
- An accessible website will save you money
For advice on web accessibility issues, contact Anthony Burke here to discuss this issue or any aspect of digital internet marketing. Anthony runs his own business which is associated with WSI to provide companies with affordable digital internet marketing solutions to enable profitable growth and increase marketing ROI. He is also a member of the British Computer Society, the Chartered Institute for IT, and a registered Prince2 Practitioner.
http://www.peachpit.com/webaccessibility – Skip links are an accessibility feature that enable users to navigate a Web document. Author Andy Clarke shows you how to properly implement them throughout your site. This clip is part of Andy’s video Designing Web Accessibility for a Beautiful Web.
This video shows Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley’s introduction to the Web Accessibility Training Day, which the NFB and Maryland Technology Assistance Program hosted on September 22, 2009. The governor stresses the importance of web accessibility, especially in government.
http://www.naturalseo.org “Website Design | Web Accessibility Wichita
A short film made by postgraduate students with the Department of Information Studies at Sheffield University exploring issues relating to web acessibility for people with visual impairments. Includes interviews with visually impaired students and the General manager of Sheffield Royal Society for the Blind. The film briefly explores why the internet is important to visually impaired people, and identifies commen issues with websites that limit accessibility.
Many of today’s web designers and developers rely totally on the use of existing web design tools such as Adobe Dreamweaver or Flash to create their web pages. Although these tools are capable of creating standards compliant and accessible web content, the best way to ensure compliance with standards and the UK law is to have an intrinsic understanding of what these standards are.
http://www.accessiblenet.com
Presents the results of an automated Web accessibility evaluation study of 100 Greek homepages. The results indicated that most of the evaluated websites continue to pose barriers to people with disabilities, despite the availability of established accessibility guidelines. For this reason we also present the design requirements and a first prototype of a tool that aims to: a) increase awareness of Web accessibility issues for Web development stakeholders, and b) teach Web accessibility guidelines and good design practices. 
Many of today’s web designers and developers rely totally on the use of existing web design tools such as Adobe Dreamweaver or Flash to create their web pages. Although these tools are capable of creating standards compliant and accessible web content, the best way to ensure compliance with standards and the UK law is to have an intrinsic understanding of what these standards are.
Many of today’s web designers and developers rely totally on the use of existing web design tools such as Adobe Dreamweaver or Flash to create their web pages. Although these tools are capable of creating standards compliant and accessible web content, the best way to ensure compliance with standards and the UK law is to have an intrinsic understanding of what these standards are.
