Why is Web Accessibility Important?

Accessible Websites Open the Net to Blind, Deaf, Learning Disabled

May 17, 2009 Victoria Anisman-Reiner

Accessible website design is increasingly important to avoid discrimination and help blind, deaf, autistic, learning disabled and manually impaired users on the internet.

Accessibility is easy for restaurants and stores: a ramp or elevator is all that's needed to allow anyone who can't handle stairs to enter and exit. Accessible web site design is a little more complicated, since there are many different disabilities that can affect one's experience of the web. People who are blind, deaf, color blind, autistic, learning disabled, or those who have manual issues that restrict their mouse or keyboard use require special website design to allow them access to web content.

Why Learn About Web Accessibility?

Web accessibility initiatives are fairly new and certainly aren't legally required for websites. Special website design to make your site accessible can cost time and money. So why learn about them?

Simply put, making your site accessible to everyone puts you ahead of all the sites that don't. Fledgling businesses need every handle they can get on customer satisfaction and loyalty. If there are twenty-seven sites out there that offer custom t-shirts and only one of them is completely accessible to disabilities, guess which one will win customer goodwill and get positive word-of-mouth advertising?

Web designers benefit from accessibility knowledge for the same reason – it puts them ahead of the competition. Those who have the tools and ability to create accessible websites will be increasingly in demand.

Who Needs Special Web Design for Accessibility?

Different types of disabled users read the web differently and may use unique tools and functions to access websites.

Blind Web Users – Most blind users use software called "screen readers" to read web content aloud or sent it to a Braille reader. Information for the vision impaired can be coded into the HTML of accessible websites.

Color Blind – People who are color blind can't differentiate between colors, such as red and green (the most common form of color blindness in men). Sales, discounts, and any information that is "cued" to visually abled web users with colors should be duplicated elsewhere in a text-based format. The most accessible websites for colorblind users have good text and background contrast.

Deaf – Deaf web users may appear to have the easiest time of it, but as sites expand to rely on audio and video files these information sources should be duplicated on accessible sites with a full text transcription.

Autistic, Dyslexic, Down's Syndrome and Learning Disabled – People with autism, dyslexia, Down's syndrome or learning disabilities can have trouble using the web or reading long blocks of text or description. Websites that rely on images and a simple, repetitive site structure are easier to navigate.

Elderly – Mature web users may struggle with small text and poor color contrast. The most accessible sites offer adjustable font sizes and contrast options for those with partial visual impairment.

Manual Problems – Web users who have cerebral palsy, Parkinson's disease, hand injuries or repetitive strain problems may not be able to use a conventional keyboard or a mouse. Web accessibility for these people depends on being able to navigate sites with an altered keyboard or without using a mouse at all.

All of these concerns require special design steps to make a site run on multiple browsers and computers and to be compatible with the technologies used by disabled people to navigate the web.

Reference

Dolson, Joseph, "What is Web Accessibility?" JoeDolson.com, accessed 17 May 2009.

W3C World Wide Web Consortium, "How People with Disabilities Use the Web," W3.org, 5 May 2005, accessed 17 May 2009.

The copyright of the article Why is Web Accessibility Important? in Disabilities is owned by Victoria Anisman-Reiner. Permission to republish Why is Web Accessibility Important? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Web Accessibility for Disabled Web Users

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Comments

Jul 7, 2009 7:42 PM

Guest :

thanks for sharing this important information. My question for you is, how can we make our site to be compatible with the technologies used by disabled people to navigate?
can you post some web links of actual sites that have these technologies?

thanks

Frank

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