What is web accessibility & why is it important?

Web accessibility is about making your website accessible to all Internet users (both disabled and non-disabled), regardless of what browsing technology they're using. The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) makes it unlawful for a service provider to discriminate against a disabled person by refusing to provide them any service which it provides to able bodied members of the public.

Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web
Web accessibility benefits everyone
Web accessibility is a legal obligation (DDA 2002)

Statistics on the number of users whom may face difficulties due to a website's accessibility are startling: (Figures below are based on UK population)

9% have some form of colour blindness
24% have a sight problem
21% have difficulty interpreting online content

Although there is inevitably some overlap between the aforementioned groups, adding up these numbers provides a total of 48% of the UK population that could potentially face problems with your website's accessibility. That's an extraordinarily high number.

Web accessibility encompasses all disabilities that affect access to the Web, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities.

A key principle of Web accessibility is designing website's and software that are flexible to meet different user needs, preferences, and situations. This flexibility benefits everyone in certain situations, such as people using a slow Internet connection, people with 'temporary disabilities' such as a broken arm, and people with changing abilities due to aging.

Why you should care about web accessibility

It's not just disabled users who can't access your website

Non-disabled people may also experience difficulties with your website's accessibility. Not everyone is viewing your website on the latest version of Internet Explorer, with all the plug-ins and programs that you may require them to have for optimal access.

If your website relies on images, Flash or JavaScript, and fails to provide alternatives, then your website won't be accessible to a number of web users. The following examples are a common occurrence:

PDA's & Mobile Phones

PDA's and mobile phones have limited support for large images, Flash and JavaScript. You can check how your website looks on a mobile phone with the Opera mini simulator. Don't underestimate the importance of this: in 2008 alone an estimated 58 million PDA's will be sold and one third of the world's population will own a wireless device.

Users on Slow Connections

Users on slow connections regularly turn images off to enable a quicker download time. Some browsers, such as the text-only Lynx browser do not display images at all.

Don't rely on plug ins & scripting

Not every user has downloaded the latest Flash program that's needed to access your site. Additionally, the download time on Flash website's often takes so long that users lose patience and don't even wait to see the content. Just 45% of web users in the UK are connected to the Internet via broadband.

JavaScript is a scripting language that can cause changes to a page, often through mouse functions, buttons, or other actions from the user. For example, pop-ups are opened using JavaScript. JavaScript is unsupported by about 5% of web users, either because they have turned it off to prevent pop-up adverts or because their browser doesn't support it. Any JavaScript-driven content provided on your website won't be accessible to these users.

Accessible website's: The Business Perspective

There are two main reasons why a business would do well with an accessible website:

An accessible website will make you more money
An accessible website will save you money

There are seven explanations for this:

Your website will be easier to manage

An accessible website separates the content (the words and images that we see on the screen) and presentation (the way that these words and images are laid out) of each page. Each web page has an HTML document that contains the words and images for that page (the content), and calls up a Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) document that includes the presentation information - this CSS document is shared by all the pages on the website.

To adjust the layout of your website, you only have to make changes in the CSS file, saving considerable time (and therefore money).

Your website will be future proof

In the near future, the use of PDA's, mobile phones and in-car browsers will all regularly be used to access the Internet. The people making use of these new technologies are generally high-income individuals. In order to reach this lucrative target, you'll need a website that is accessible to these machines.

Your website will appear higher in the search engines

By making your website more accessible to web users, you're also making it more accessible to search engines. Search engines cannot usually understand images, JavaScript, Flash, audio and video content. By providing alternative content to each of these, all areas of your website will be accessible to search engines.

The more confident a search engine is of your website's purpose, the higher it'll place your website in the search rankings.

You won't have to incur legal fees

The RNIB (Royal National Institute for the Blind) and the DRC (Disability Rights Commission) have been exerting pressure on companies and the government to make their website's accessible. Indeed, the DRC has now published their findings from their accessibility investigation of 1000 website's. They've warned firms that they'll face legal action and the threat of unlimited compensation payments if they fail to make their website's accessible to people with disabilities.

The download time of your website will be significantly improved

Accessible website's generally download quicker than website's with poor accessibility. You can be sure that if your website takes much longer than ten seconds to download then many of your site visitors will be clicking away and you'll lose their custom.

The usability of your website will be enhanced

There is a certain amount of overlap between web accessibility and web usability. It's been shown that a usability redesign increases the sales/conversion rate of a website by 100%.

You'll gain good publicity

Make your website accessible to everyone and you can tell the world about it.

What does the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) state?

Part III of the DDA refers to the provision of goods, facilities and services. The Code of Practice , which specifically mentions website's, can be downloaded in its entirety from the Equality and Human Rights Commission website.

The relevant quotes from the 175-page Code of Practice are:

2.2 (p7): "The Disability Discrimination Act makes it unlawful for a service provider to discriminate against a disabled person by refusing to provide any service which it provides to members of the public."

4.7 (p39): "From 1st October 1999 a service provider has to take reasonable steps to change a practice which makes it unreasonably difficult for disabled people to make use of its services."

2.13 - 2.17 (p11-13): "What services are affected by the Disability Discrimination Act? An airline company provides a flight reservation and booking service to the public on its website. This is a provision of a service and is subject to the act."

5.23 (p71): "For people with visual impairments, the range of auxiliary aids or services which it might be reasonable to provide to ensure that services are accessible might include ... accessible website's."

5.26 (p68): "For people with hearing disabilities, the range of auxiliary aids or services which it might be reasonable to provide to ensure that services are accessible might include ... accessible website's."

Web Accessibility & why is it Important?