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Is Your Website Designed to Provide Access for the Disabled?

by seeley

Is your website accessible to people with disabilities? It seems
like today, website owners are more concerned with mobile web
design than they are with making their sites available to the
millions of people around the world with disabilities. It makes
sense from a business perspective to make your website as
accessible as possible to everyone, but it is also becoming a
legal matter and much for many businesses and organizations.

The World Wide Web is classified as a form of Information and
Communications Technology, or ICT. Laws and policies regarding
ICT accessibility that are already in existence are being
considered in terms of the Internet. In addition, more and more
legislation addressing ICT accessibility is being enacted around
the world.

Although the Internet is for the most part unregulated, laws can
apply to the Web as ICT. Many countries currently have government
laws, policies, regulations and recommendations in place
regarding Web accessibility. An abbreviated list of these
countries includes: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel,
Japan, Spain the United Kingdom and the United States.

The Americans with Disabilities Act and Internet Accessibility

In the United States, rulings regarding the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) resulted in the determination that
State as well as local governments and the business sector must
provide "effective communication" during Internet communications.

A significant point of the ADA policy rulings is that
communications in graphical format are almost impossible for
people with visual disabilities to understand. Screenreaders
cannot make sense of graphic images:  text format is absolutely
essential, including text for navigational tools, graphs, tables
and charts.

You can find out more about the ADA and rulings regarding the
Internet at the US Department of Justice (USDOJ) website.
 
Implementing Universal Design

Whether laws are governing your website today or not, it is in
your best interest to make your site accessible to all Internet
users - especially if it is a business website. How can you
accomplish this? By implementing the elements of Universal Design
on all of your web pages. Your entire website will then be
available to the widest range of Internet users possible,
regardless of the type of technology or equipment they use,
disabilities, age, or level of education.

The following are some of the specific ways you can apply
Universal Design principles to your website:

1. Provide text browser support

2. Present documents in text format rather than in frames or
PDF

3. Avoid requiring visitors to download software to view
information

4. Add "Alt" tags to your graphics so screenreaders can "read"
images

5. Hyperlink all photos with descriptive text

6. Hyperlink video and audio clips with captioning

7. Provide email or voice/TTY phone number alternatives for
on-line forms

8. Avoid relying on color to convey information

You can obtain more complete information about website
accessibility guidelines from resources such as W3 online.

Depending on your skills, you may or may not need assistance
redesigning or developing your next website for full
accessibility. Whether you make changes to your website design
yourself or rely on professional assistance, remember to evaluate
the results.

There are many free evaluation tools available online that can
help you test web pages on your site for accessibility. For a
comprehensive evaluation that would ensure compliance with web
accessibility laws, you will need to rely on the expertise of a
knowledgeable professional as well as evaluation tools.

Additional Benefits of Web Accessibility

Whether you need to bring your website to full web accessibility
standards to comply with legal requirements, or you're primarily
interested in providing access to those with disabilities, you'll
discover some surprising additional benefits.

A website with a flexible design is more accessible to people
browsing the Web with limited technology, such as dial-up
Internet connections or outdated computers. Your fully accessible
website will also be available to those with temporary
disabilities, such as people recovering from surgery or
accidents. With the right equipment, even people with limited or
no literacy skills will be able to browse your website.

Regardless of what type of website you have, focusing on web
accessibility will benefit your visitors as well as your business
in a variety of ways.

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