| The Disability Discrimination Act states that service | | | | look on a mobile phone. |
| providers must not discriminate against disabled people. | | | | 3. Your website will appear higher in the search |
| A website is regarded as a service and therefore | | | | engines |
| comes under this law. | | | | By making your website more accessible to web |
| Some organisations are changing to their websites, but | | | | users, you are also making it more accessible to |
| many are seemingly not making the adjustments. | | | | search engines. Search engines cannot usually |
| Disabled people don't access their website, they say, | | | | understand images, JavaScript, Flash, audio and video |
| so why should they care? | | | | content. By providing alternative content to each of |
| There are, however, two very good reasons as to | | | | these programs, search engines will have a better |
| why businesses should start taking these issues | | | | understanding of the purpose of your website. The |
| seriously: | | | | more confident a search engine is of what your |
| 1. An accessible website will make you more money | | | | website is about, all other things being equal, the higher |
| 2. An accessible website will save you money | | | | it will place your website in the search rankings. |
| There are seven reasons for this being applicable: | | | | 4. You will not have to incur legal fees |
| 1. Your website will be easier to manage | | | | The RNIB (Royal National Institute for the Blind) and the |
| An accessible website separates the content (the | | | | DRC (Disability Rights Commission) have been exerting |
| words and images that we see on the screen) and | | | | pressure on companies and the government to make |
| presentation (the way that these words and images | | | | their websites accessible. Indeed, the DRC is currently |
| are laid out) of each page. Each web page has an | | | | investigating 1,000 websites for accessibility ( If your |
| HTML (HyperText Markup Language) document, | | | | organisation's website is on this list then you can |
| which contains the words and images for that page | | | | expect to be hearing from them soon. |
| (the content), and calls up a CSS (Cascading | | | | 5. The download time of your website will be |
| StyleSheets) document that includes the presentation | | | | significantly improved |
| information - this CSS document is shared by all the | | | | Just 25% of UK web users are connected to the |
| pages on the website. To adjust the layout of your | | | | Internet via broadband ( You can be sure that if your |
| website, you only have to make changes in one file, | | | | website takes much longer than ten seconds to |
| saving considerable time (and therefore money). | | | | download then many of your site visitors will be clicking |
| 2. Your website will be compatible with new browsing | | | | away and you will lose their custom. |
| technologies | | | | 6. The usability of your website will be enhanced |
| In the near future, the use of PDAs, mobile phones and | | | | There is a certain amount of overlap between web |
| in-car browsers will all regularly be used to access the | | | | accessibility and web usability. It has been shown that |
| Internet. The people making use of these new | | | | a usability redesign increases the sales/conversion rate |
| technologies are generally high-income individuals. In | | | | of a website by 100% ( |
| order to reach this lucrative target, you will need a | | | | 7. You will gain good publicity |
| website that can work on these machines. To test | | | | Make your website accessible to everyone and you |
| your website, try accessing it on the Wapalizer, a free | | | | can tell the world about it. |
| program available at which shows how your site will | | | | |