Introduction

Introduction

Imagine a scenario from 15 or 20 years ago. A man with cerebral palsy lives in an apartment in a large city. His muscle movements are spastic, his speech is slurred, and he uses a wheelchair to navigate his physical world, but his mind is unaffected by his motor disability. He can type letters on a computer with an adaptive keyboard that reduces the chance of input errors due to his spastic muscle movements. He has never used the Internet, because it has not yet surged in popularity. In fact, like most of the people in the world at that time, he had never heard of the Internet. This man cannot easily go shopping for clothing, food, books, or anything else without someone else’s assistance. He is not incapable of these acts, but there are access issues with public transportation, with the sidewalks, with the stores, and so on. It can be more bother than it’s worth at times. He depends upon help from others.

Now let’s move this man into the present time. He has access to the Internet. Rather than depending on someone else for every little need, he has the option to go to web sites to order the clothing, food, books and other items that he wants. The problem is that the most popular sites for these items have not taken accessibility into account. He is unable to use a mouse reliably, and finds that some sites are unusable without a mouse. In his frustration, he seeks other sites that offer similar products, and finds a few, but they are not as comprehensive as the ones he really wants to access. He has a measure of independence, but it is limited.

Finally, let’s look into a more ideal future. The web sites that this man wants to access are accessible to him. He is able to purchase the items that he needs and wants without always depending on someone else. His disability is irrelevant in these circumstances. He enjoys a level of independence that was formerly denied him, and which the majority of the world takes for granted.

Reasons to take it seriously

Too many businesses make the mistake of dismissing web accessibility as irrelevant, but the assumption that accessibility issues concern only a small segment of would-be customers is a potentially profit-damaging misstep.

Taking web accessibility seriously can save your business from major problems, some that possibly haven’t even occurred to you. What’s more, it can save you time and money, two things any business owner could always use more of. After all, by designing an adequately accessible website, you will not have to make a special effort to provide materials to disabled clients or customers in different formats, such as in physical large-print, or Braille.

Additionally, accessible websites make it easier for those clients or customers to place their order with you.  While you may have been happy to provide those individuals with special service, the fact may be that they don’t ask you for that opportunity; they may simply find your interface unusable, and begin to look elsewhere. You don’t want that to happen, and here are five additional reasons your business should take web accessibility seriously.

1. Customer Loyalty. If any user, disabled or not, finds your site slow, confusing or hard to navigate, you’ve just lost a potential customer. Web users have millions of sites to choose from, and they aren’t willing to find out if yours is worth the wait while your high-bandwidth images struggle to load. Even worse, if your site only functions well on one browser, you may have just lost a large share of web users, consumers who will make the switch to a competitor rather than deal with an inferior experience.
2. Credibility. By ensuring your site accommodates and satisfies users of all levels of ability and access you’ll establish and build the one currency that means the most in the business world— credibility. If a consumer knows they can come to your site and easily navigate pages, forms and links, they’re much more likely to return, refer others, and speak well of your brand in general.
3. Staying Ahead. In the digital world, being even one step behind current technology makes you a dinosaur. Working to create the most accessible site will ensure that you stay at the forefront of your industry, and empower your consumer to feel in control of their web experience. If re-coding your forms or updating your graphics seems daunting, remember that programs at local or online IT schools can easily get you up to speed on any tech tricks necessary to avoid accessibility issues and revamp an  outdated site format.
4. Progress. Web accessibility can be a moving target, but the consistent self-evaluation necessary to keep your site accessible for any user will benefit your business as a whole. Business awareness and accommodation of individual needs and desires was the top concern for 83% of consumers in a 2010 Experian poll, and you’ll be a go-to guy for these customers if you keep accessibility at the top of the list of priorities.
5. Lawsuits. Web accessibility traditionally refers to site accommodation of users with visual, cognitive, auditory or physical disabilities. Sites that fail to feature alternative descriptions for images, transcription for videos, and the appropriate HTML code that makes the site usable by keyboard-only, screen reader and other users of adaptive technology, set themselves up to not only alienate disabled consumers, but also to invoke lawsuits for failure to comply with accessibility standards. Check state and national law and policy to avoid leaving your site exposed to legal action. In the U.S., if your website is even partially federally funded, it must comply with Section 508, so make sure you’re well familiar with it, and in full compliance.

As time goes on, web accessibility will only become more of an urgent issue. If you build accessibility into your plan from the beginning, you won’t always have to be playing catch up. And if you’re playing catch up, well, make sure you get to work!

Editorial guest article by Philip J Reed, on behalf of Westwood College .

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Date modified:

2015-09-25