What Accessibility is NOT

There are some common misconceptions about what accessibility is and how it is implemented. Before we tell you what accessibility is, let us first assure you what it is not.

• Creating seperate versions of your pages Separate accessible pages are wrong in principle because they cause segregation. Creating one page for your disabled users and another regaular page for everyone else is not accessibility.
• Text-only pages When text-only pages are created they never carry the same information as the regular page. Graphics, typography, colour schemes, and page design are information. Text-only pages while helpful for one user group may actually hinder another. People with a learning-disability for instance, may get bogged down in masses of continuous text.
• Boring All too often, people assume that accessible means boring. This is usually due to the misconception that accessible websites have to be mostly text. Graphical elements are perfectly acceptable in accessible web design, in fact, they are encouraged. In brief, graphics enhance accessibility by providing visual cues as to the meaning and organization of the content. These visual cues help people to understand the content better, thus increasing the accessibility of the content.

What Accessibility is…

Web Accessibility is building web pages that can be navigated and read by everyone, regardless of disability, location, experience or technology.

Why does your site need to be accessible?

Section 21 of the Act gives disabled people improved rights of access to goods, facilities and services. The Department of Education and Employment advice says:

As a service provider, you might discriminate against a disabled person in two ways: By treating him or her less favourably than other customers because of their disability; or by not making reasonable adjustments to the way you deliver your services, so that disabled people can use them.

In October 2004 the Act came into full effect, leaving businesses no defence unless they have at least a coherent plan for implementing “reasonable adjustments”.

The government-funded Disability Rights Commission reported in April 2004 that “swathes of businesses may not be complying with existing equal access laws” and that it is “only a matter of time” before they face legal action from disabled consumers.

Australia has its own Disability Discrimination Act and as long ago as 2000 Bruce Maguire successfully sued the organisers of the Sydney Olympics for excluding him, as a blind user, from the content of their site. The case helped “road-test” some of the legal arguments involved in this area.

Doesn’t Accessbility Just Affect People With Physical Disabilities?

People often mistakingly think that web accessibility stops with people with physical disabilities. While they are often the most affected group when confronted with a poorly designed website, web accessibility is a much wider issue, affecting everyone.

• Probably the most obvious group of individuals affected by accessibility issues are the blind and visually impaired.
• People with impaired mobility and other physical disabilities.
• People choosing to surf the web using mobile phones and PDAs.
• People using older technologies. Unfortunately many larger organisations still use old versions of web browsers which may need to be catered for.
• While broadband connections are becoming more and more widespread, there are still many people using slow dial-up internet connections.
• One market that can not be ignored is the older generation (also refered to sometimes as the “silver surfer”). One of the largest growing marketings on the web today with their own accessiblity issues such as reduced mobility, reduced hand-eye co-ordination and poor vision.
• By simply taking time to make sure your content uses easy to understand english, people who don’t understand English fluently, or younger internet users can be catered for.

So how will Being Accessible Benefit your business?

1. Expand Your Audience
   The more people that are able to access your web site, the more potential customers you have. It will also position your business perfectly for otherwise untapped markets such as the older generation of internet users or people using mobile phones and PDAs. Open your business and your content to an increased audience.
2. Increased Sales
   There are nearly 10 million people with disabilities in the UK with a cumulative disposable income of nearly £50 billion (Institute of Employment Studies).
3. Raised Business Profile
   You can improve your business profile by showing that you are proactive to the needs of all your potential customers, refusing to alienate anyone based on what they use to access your website.
4. PR and Public Affairs Advantage
   By showing you are compasionate towards equal opportunities you could win endorsement from influential public and charitable bodies.
5. Avoid Litigation
   If you do not meet the accessibility expectations there is no reason why your company won’t be a target of legal action under the UK Disability Discrimination Act. Remember, you also have a responsibility to your employees to make sure that internal systems (especially intranets) are accessible to all.

   The Disability Discrimination Act, along with the Code of Practice which explicitly mentions websites can be downloaded in their entirety from the Disability Rights Commission website.

6. Profitable Side-Effects
   The accessibility measures needed to comply with UK law also have positive side effects. They often improve the general usability of a site, meaning higher sales conversion, and can make it easier for search engines to examine your site and give you a higher search ranking. For able-bodied visitors an accessible website is on average 35% quicker than an inaccessible website (’The Web - Access and Inclusion for Disabled People‘ DRC report 14 April 2004)
7. Search engines are blind
   The biggest and most frequent blind visitors to any web site are search engines like Google. Search engine crawlers cannot see or appreciate visual design and look for meaningful, structured content. Proper accessibility techniques ensure that search engines are readily able to access your content, improving positions and increasing visitor numbers.

And if you fail to take accessibility seriously…

• Everyday you could, without even knowing it, be turning away large numbers of potential customers.
• You miss the chance of showing that your business cares about it’s customers needs.
• Under UK law, it’s illegal for a business to discriminate against people with disabilities. This applies to your business whether you’re online or offline, meaning you take the risk of opening yourself up to litigation.

How will we help?

We offer a range of Accessibility Services which will benefit you and your business.