Disability Web Site Access

Publication Date: 2007-01-23

Article category: Web Site Accessibility

Accessibility is just not worth the effort.

Well for several reasons I suppose. The first one for me is that it allows me to sleep at night with a clear conscience as I know I have done my job right. But more importantly for my clients it give distinct business advantages.

Don't make your customers climb over the chairs to get to the till.

The spending power of the disabled in the UK is estimated at around 80 billion per annum. Add into that those users who although not registered disabled may have vision problems such as short sightedness, colour blindness, or minor physical impairments to the hands. Then add in research by the Disability Rights Commission that points to sites that are well designed for accessibility tend to be easier to use for people without disabilities. Maybe considering disability web site access has some worth?

Resistance is futile, eventually you will comply.

Sooner or later a case will be brought before a UK court over disability web site access, and if international precedent is sought (and in Human Rights cases it often is) then the previous findings of Maguire -v- SOCOG (Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games) should make you sit up and listen. I don't personally feel threats are the best motivation on this issue, but as a website owner you do need to consider this.

Don't shut out the blind robots.

Search engines use software called spiders or robots (often shortened to bots) to 'crawl' over your site, recording everything they find. But these robots are blind, they cannot see any of the imagery you have painstakingly dressed your site up with, all they see is the code (in Internet Explorer try clicking on 'View' at the top of your screen, then click on 'Source' within the drop down menu, thats how the spider views the page). By using an approach that promotes disability web site access the spider will get an easier crawl, will be able to access more of your content and will rate your key terms more highly resulting in a better search engine ranking. That on it's own could pay for the cost of enabling your web site for disability access.

The message is the same but the medium may vary.

Because accessible design separates content from design elements, the same content can easily accommodate changes in page design or browser technology, making updates cheaper. It can also transport easily to alternative platforms (PDAs, mobile phones, etc) so when mobile browsing comes of age you wont need a whole new web site.

Opportunities not challenges.

Those sites that grasp this fundamental shift in approach to the medium, will be at a competitive advantage. Todays web is more and more about content, disseminating your content, sharing other content and allowing your visitors to create their own content. The correct approach that allows good disability web site access will be key to the next round of development on the web. Make sure your not left behind.