What is Web Accessibility?

Web accessibility means that people that suffer with all kinds of disabilities can understand, interact and also contribute to the Web and the web sites that appear on

Web accessibility does not just affect those with the most obvious disabilities, but also those with age related abilities that change as time passes.

This type of accessibility covers disabilities that more specifically affect access to the web, including visual; hearing; physical; speech; neural and cognitive disabilities.  The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), have a document that describes "How People with Disabilities Use the Web", this document also include examples of how people with disabilities might use the web, if they were able to.

There are a great number of people affected by disability, and currently most web sites and web software has some element(s) that make it very difficult for these users to access the web. As more accessible web sites are designed and built more and more people will become able to use the web effectively.

Why Web Accessibility is Important?

In the UK the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 or DDA as it is called for short, requires that "reasonable effort" should be made to ensure that all services are accessible to everyone.  Part 3 of this act came into full effect in 2004 and specifically included web sites as services.

The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has a document that gives guidance to inform and assist businesses and organisations in developing business cases for web accessibility.  This documentation can be found at the following location www.w3.org/WAI/bcase/Overview.

With the ever increasing popularity of the web today providing access to many resources such as e-commerce sites, education, retail, reference, government, healthcare in some cases.  Here are some considerations:

• Be accessible to more visitors than before, given that assistive technologies will be able to access the web site; disabled users will have methods to access the web site and so on
• Allow users to customise their experience of your web site; this is important for those that need larger font sizes; different screen colours etc
• Can load faster due to lighter code
• Can be easier to maintain
• Can obtain a better search engine ranking
• Can be re-styled easily without major overhauls, thereby reducing costs

• Blind people can access the web using text-to-speech/braille applications.  This means that if your website is not "code-friendly".  These technologies will not be able to "read" your web site.
• People with other visual difficulties may need to use alternate colours &/or larger font sizes – this means if your web site does not allow this, they may not be able to view your web site.
• Physically disabled people may not be able to use a mouse or keyboard and may possibly use other devices to navigate the web.  If your web site is not accessible to these devices, they will not be able to access your web site.
• Flashing images and pages that automatically refresh on web sites can cause distress to photo-sensitive epilepsy sufferers.  More detailed information can be found on the Epilepsy Action website – http://www.epilepsy.org.uk/info/photo.html

An Accessible World Wide Web!

So whose responsibility is it?  Up until recently much of the responsibility has fallen on the shoulders of the web developers. However, you have to consider Web Developers need web software to both produce, further develop, maintain and evaluate web sites.  Software manufacturers produce applications to build, develop and evaluate web sites and web applications.

One of the purposes of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) is to develop guidelines that can assist in the implementation for Web Accessibility for web software and web developers alike.

Again the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) have an excellent document that will show you the "Essential Components of Web Accessibility".  This document can be found at the following location - http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/components.php.  The document outlines how web accessibility components fit together and how improvements could bring about substantial changes in Web Accessibility.

Making Your Web Site Accessible?  or How Does Accessibility Help Me?

In summary, having an accessible website will mean:

• You have valid code; the code used to generate your page has been written and checked in accordance with W3C Guidelines; it ensures that you comply with current legislation
• Your web site is accessible;  people using assistive technologies will be able to access your web site and your web site will be more attractive to search engines
• You have a logical layout; this will mean that users can find things clearly and easily on your web site, they will not have to hunt for information neither will the search engines.
• You have readable content; your content will have been organised in a clear and readable manner. Headings, paragraphs, columns and the like have been used in a manner that is appealing and effective to the naked eye. Fonts will have been considered, as well as colour and colour contrast.

This is but a simple start, and is why we exist to help you.

How Can We Help You?

• We can provide an audit of your existing web site(s) and provide you with a full report detailing any recommendations.
• We can undertake any agreed work in a timely fashion without taking your website offline or impacting your business.
• We will provide you with a Full Documentation pack with details of all the work we undertake in Plain English, that will outline the level of compliance reached after completion.
• If required we can spend time with you to explain the work undertaken and familiarise your support &/or IT team with the changes that have been made.

Alternatively, we can spend time with your staff, on or off-site, discussing Web Accessibility and the Disability Discrimination Act and its implication to the Web.  In order that they can undertake this work themselves.

So Why Choose Us?

In an industry where there are so many agencies to choose from here are some reason to consider:

• We are professional, friendly and reliable
• We have over 10 years experience in providing IT solutions
• The majority of our work comes via recommendation
• We produce cost-effective, high quality solutions that are great value for money
• We will not over sell or over-complicate things

To find out more please call now for your FREE no obligation consultation.

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