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