Internet for everyone!

january 2004

Making a website accessibile can enlarge a company's client base, improve their image and is now a legal requirement in many countries.

UK's Disability Discrimination Act requires that companies to make their websites accessible to people with disabilities.

Many other countries have similar legislation, including the US, Germany and shortly the EU.

Intranets are equally affected. Possibly more, due to the stricter laws concerning discrimination in the workplace.

Legal concerns aside, an accessible Web means unprecedented access to information for people with disabilities.

At least 10% of the population in most countries has disabilities. Visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities can all affect access to the Web.

The average age of population in many countries is increasing, leading in particular to reduced vision and dexterity. Few organizations can afford to deliberately exclude this market sector.

Following accessibility rules will also make web content more available to all users, whatever tool they are using (e.g., desktop browser, voice browser, mobile phone, automobile-based personal computer, etc.) or constraints they may be operating under (e.g., noisy surroundings, under- or over-illuminated rooms, in a hands-free environment, etc.).

Accessbility techniques

There are many guidelines and regulations concerning accessibility. Most can be summed up as providing text alternatives to visual elements.

For example providing descriptions for images or summaries of tables. A visually impaired user can then use a special piece of speech software known as a screen reader, which will read out the Alt Text and describe the contents of the image.

These changes mostly affect the way the page is coded, rather than having any impact on the design.

Larger companies or organisations should also consider offering text-only alternatives to their pages. The BBC website has a good example of a text only version.

Revelate recommends implementing accessibility guidelines now:

• If you are considering building a new website or redesigning an existing one, an accessible implementation would only imply a small extra cost and will save you the extra expense of implementing it in future.
• Being seen as a leader in accessibility will greatly benefit the image of a company or organisation.
• Web sites that are designed with usability in mind will already be fairly accessible. The changes required are likely to be relatively small.

Experience it yourself

We always try to put ourselves in the users shoes, and this should be no exception. To get an idea of what disabled user's experience of web browsing is, try the following:

Low visibility simulation
http://www.webaim.org/simulations/lowvision

Screen reader simulation
http://www.webaim.org/simulations/screenreader

Cognitive simulation
http://www.webaim.org/simulations/cognitive