Accessibility
Accessible Web Design
These days making your site accessible to all users including those with special needs is an essential part of attracting and retaining as wide an audience as possible.
There are a number of reasons why Accessible Web Design is important.
An accessible Web site is:
- A legal requirement in the UK
- Reaching your audience
-
Ethical
( See the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) at http://www.w3.org/WAI/ )
Legally Speaking - The Disability Discrimination Act
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 states that "It is unlawful for a provider of services to discriminate against a disabled person", "it is irrelevant whether a service is provided on payment or without payment" and that examples include "access to and use of information services". If a Web site is not Accessible to disabled users it is in violation of the Disability Discrimination Act. The RNIB has been involved in a number of court cases against UK companies in relation to the DDA.
Accessibility - Reaching Your Audience
There are a large number of people in the UK with a disability that affects their use of Web sites, the figures speak for themselves:
- 59 million - The approximate population of the United Kingdom
- 8.5 million - The number of people with some form of disability in the United Kingdom
- 2 million - The number of people with sight problems
- £40-50 billion - The combined estimated spending power of disabled people
Accessibility Is Ethical
The Web is an exciting and enriching development for people with special needs or disabilities, they are able to reach information and services more easily and usually without the help of others. This was unheard of in the past. However, the extent to which they benefit is dependent on good site design and development. By scaling text, using contrasting colour schemes or even by reading text out loud - these are all ways that good site design can help transform people's lives.
After all, any of us could find ourselves in the same position in the future.
Our Accessibility Services
Whether you are developing a small business site or a large scale software application, we run a flexible service using our own experienced Accessibility consultants. We will ensure that your project receives the professional assistance it needs.
We provide:
- Design & Development of Accessible Web Sites
- Accessibility Consultancy
- Site Reviews
Design & Development
Accessibility is taken into consideration as part of each project we undertake, taking care to ensure that the site is accessible within the project's agreed budget. The level of work needed to build each site in an accessible manner varies depending on the content and features of the site. In some cases it may be necessary to recommend an alternative solution in order to maintain a level of Accessibility, and this will often depend on the budget available. Good design from the outset helps to ensure that your services are Accessible without adding unnecessarily to the cost of the site's development.