Reasons for accessibility
by Flash Bristow, Website Accessibility ConsultantFive reasons why YOUR website should be accessible
- Bring in more business
There are currently over 9 million disabled adults in the UK - that's one in seven of us - with a spending power of £80 billion. What's more, many of these disabled people turn to the internet for their shopping and services, as it is easier for them to arrange delivery online than to go to a shop and carry something home. Can you afford to turn away business from a seventh of the population? - Better search engine results
When your website reads better to a text-based browser, it not only benefits those with visual impairments but it is also easier for search engines like Google to get the information from your site, meaning they will index your site more efficiently and provide you with more, better targetted, traffic. - Your site can be accessed on the move
Text-alternatives embedded in your website don't just help those with older browsers, but also those with new technology! People are increasingly surfing the internet via their mobile phone, or their PDA. If your site can provide a text-only alternative, it can be accessed by people on the move, too. - Support for speakers of other languages, or those with poor literacy
If your website is written in plain English to a standard which can be understood by those with learning difficulties, it will also be easier to read by those with a low level of literacy (including younger readers), and those who are non-native language speakers. It will also be easier for them to extract the text from your site, if they wish to run it through an automated translator. - It's the law!
Across the world, Disability Discrimination legislation states that you may not treat disabled people less favourably - you must take all reasonable steps to provide your services equally to them. In the UK, the relevant law is the Disability Discrimination Act, part III, which relates to services. Bear in mind that your website provides a service, whether it's an online shop or simply providing information, and you have a legal obligation to make your website accessible to everyone.
So what's stopping you!
Worried about the cost?All my website designs automatically incorporate a high level of accessibility. This is what any web designer should be doing! So if you've bought an inaccessible site from someone in the last year or so, ask for your money back!
In fact, with an accessibility specialist, you are more likely to be charged a fair rate - knowing you have gone to an expert rather than one of the many cowboy designers who have merely done one software course before setting up in business. Accessibility experts such as myself tend to come from a more technical background, really understand what they are doing and the options available to you - and best of all, charge a fair price!
If you already have a website, the cost of remedial work can vary but is likely to be less than you think. I offer a website accessibility audit for £105 - this is refundable against the cost of any remedial work needed. And if your website turns out to be accessible to WAI-AAA standard, I won't charge for the audit.
Worried how an accessible site will look?
The point of accessibility is that it should be transparent. There is no reason for your site's look and feel to change - simply that accessibility functions are added in. Mostly this occurs "behind the scenes" - for example, to ensure that images have text-only alternatives, or to provide an easy method of navigation to users who do not have a mouse.
Your brand image and style will be untouched, while your site quietly benefits from the accessibility benefits detailed above.
What are you waiting for?
For a free quote, or an accessibility audit, get in touch now.Flash Bristow, Website Accessibility Consultant
Web Design & Mastery
http://www.wdam.co.uk
07939 579090
Further reading:
©2006 by Flash Bristow
"We are really delighted with our new website. Flash was extremely fast, friendly and helpful all the way through the process and went to great lengths to get the website just as we wanted. As complete novices to the world of website design, we were grateful to have a person who made the task run so smoothly.
Thank you very much!"
[Hackney Family Backup]
[Hackney Family Backup]
"Thank you so much for all your hard work on my behalf; you very quickly grasped the image I wanted to portray. I am really pleased with the website that was delivered earlier than I expected and on budget. Your extensive knowledge of websites and the legislation that affects them is impressive and led to a level of detail that I was not expecting. I literally could not have done it without you. It has been a real pleasure working with Web Design & Mastery."
[Kate Fishpool Associates]
[Kate Fishpool Associates]