Web site Accessibility
The concept Accessible web is often related to as user disabilities, which is not completely true.
The Myth behind Website Accessibility says that websites can not be accessible and look good, this is wrong. There are lots of web sites in the Internet which are good looking and at the same time accessible.
Net-Guide is a UK based Search Engine, this Search Engine gives an Accessibility rating for the websites returned for any query entered. Their information tells you in the results to which standard the websites are accessible. i.e. poor, good, excellent.
What is Website Accessibility?
It ensures that everyone who uses the Internet can access the pages and web sites presented, without any problems.
Why should I make my website more accessible?
Approxiametly 15 - 25% (exact statistics can be found on the relevant sites) of Internet users have some sort of disability, this means if your site is not designed for all Internet users, you may well be loosing customers.
It is the aim of various initiatives to design the access to web sites barrier free therefore to remove all potential obstacles. Under Usability points of view, efforts in this direction are desirable for every website.
Making your web site accessible means that you are opening your business online to a greater audience, and therefor creating greater revenue in the long term.
A large target group are people with restricted vision or color blindness, they are often dependent on special programs and/or equipment to be able to access Internet content. Such as screenreaders, which are particularly common, these are programs which read the content of a website to the user.
By ensuring your site meets accessibility guidelines you may be avoiding costly litigation, or damaging complaints. Lawmakers around the world are including Web accessibility provisions in human rights laws or explicit laws that guarantee access (such as Section 508, The Disability Discrimination Act).
