Web Accessibility Experts

For all the Websites we build, we strive to ensure that all users will face no barriers to content. This includes users of assistive devices and also business users browsing the site using a PDA or smartphone. For those of you who think that making accessible Webpages is some sort of niche expertise which holds few benefits for you read on..

Business Benefits of Web Accessibility

There a lot of reasons why you should make your Website accessible. Most of these reasons revolve around what happens if you don't and what opportunities are lost.

• The Disability Discrimination Act requires you to make reasonable adjustments to ensure the content of your Website is accessible to people with disabilities. If this isn't the case they are within their right to make a claim against you, and you'll also be losing the opportunity to demonstrate corporate responsibility and ethical business practices.
• The following statistics give an idea of the proportion of your market you may be alienating if you don't do that:
  • 14% of the population are registered as disabled people in the UK
  • 9% of the UK have some form of colour blindness
  • 4% of the population have a sight problem
  • 21% of the UK population are aged 60 or over - the so called "Silver Surfer" has access to significant disposable income and much greater incidences of reduced mobility, reduced hand-eye co-ordination and poor vision. It makes no sense to unecessarily alienate such a group.
• Poor search engine rankings - Google is the largest "blind user" on the web so content which is accessible to blind users will be accessible to Google. It likes plain Jane HTML text not snazzy Flash video or Javascript . Google themselves recommend web masters test their site with a text only browser like Lynx. Funnily enough, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines recommend the same.
• High Maintenance costs - Poorly structured inaccessible web sites can be a nightmare for developers to work with and can result in long turn around times for relatively simple changes - the larger the site the bigger the problem.
• Poor interoperability - PDAs and mobile phones are now regularly used to access the Internet. In addition to this you can add in-car browsers, web TV, kiosques, and a variety of other emerging appliances to the mix. It simply doesn't make sense to alienate yourself from a market which is increasing in size, especially one which is associated with high income earners.
• Poor usability - Often what prevents access to disabled users sets challenges for the rest of us. Research shows that sites optimised for accessibility are easier to use for everyone. Poorly structured, inconsistent interfaces where users are an after thought decrease the effectiveness of your site. Think of the information highway as just that and and then think of your site as a billboard which people are flashing past. You have to make things very simple and obvious. Users will give up if enough annoyances have accumulated.
• Longer download time - A badly structured, poorly coded site adds to your download time. You can't afford long download times in a time poor society, even in this age of broadband.
• And finally, possibly the best reason of all for making a site accessible is because it's the right thing to do. A blind person can now go on line and read the daily newspapers.

More about web accessibility audits, testing and reviews.

Would you like to learn more about web accessibility or how we could improve your Website?
Feel free to contact us by filling in the form below. Alternatively, call us on 0151 223 0001 for a free no obligation chat.