Myth:
Accessible websites are plain and boring.
ABSOLUTELY NOT!
At Go9Media, we take accessibility to the next level - merging design and usability techniques with the highest levels of accessible design.
Despite the immense reach of the Internet,
your website might completely bypass millions of customers.
Scary thought, isn't it? All those people could be looking for your product, services or organization--yet be unable to use your website due to a lack of accessible design.
Various disabilities can affect a user's capacity to interact with your website. As pioneers in the field of accessibility, Go9Media has the experience and expertise to help you reach your entire audience on a level playing field--regardless of physical or technical limitations.
Why is accessibility important?
Most people today can hardly conceive of life without the Internet. It provides access to information, news, email, shopping, and entertainment. The Internet, with its ability to serve out information at any hour of the day or night about practically any topic conceivable, has become a way of life for an impatient, information-hungry generation. Some have argued that no other single invention has been more revolutionary since that of Gutenberg's original printing press in the mid 1400s. Now, at the click of a mouse, the world can be "at your fingertips"--that is, if you can use a mouse . . . and if you can see the screen . . . and if you can hear the audio--in other words, if you don't have a disability of any kind.
An estimated 20 percent of the population in the United States (40.8 million individuals) has some kind of disability, and 10 percent (27.3 million individuals) has a severe disability. The 27.3 million individuals with severe disabilities are limited in the way that they can use the Internet.
The saddest aspect of this fact is that the know-how and the technology to overcome these limitations already exist, but they are greatly under-utilized, mostly because Web developers simply do not know enough about the issue to design pages that are accessible to people with disabilities. Unfortunately, even some of the more informed Web developers minimize the importance of the issue, or even ignore the problem altogether.
There is still a great deal of ignorance and misunderstanding however, even among Internet professionals, about how to realize the potential of the Internet to provide access to people with disabilities. There are affordable, elegant, and easy-to-use tools and design techniques that can make Web sites dramatically more accessible to people with a variety of disabilities - including those who those who use assistive technologies and/or hardware that is less than state-of-the-art. Accessibility design tools can make the information on a company web site available to millions more people.
To understand why this issue is so important, it is helpful to first understand how people with disabilities use the Internet, and how their disability affects their use of the Internet. In general, there are five types of disabilities that affect Internet usage. These are:
Visual impairments
Hearing impairments
Mobility impairments
Cognitive impairments
Seizure disorders
Changes that are made to sites to make them more accessible or sites that are built with those principles in mind benefit more than just those individuals who would self identify as people with a disability. Sites that are accessible are cleaner sites with cleaner code - making them sites that download faster with fewer opportunities of browser or plugin fiascos that could interupt the user's experience.
About U.S. Regulations
In as much as the WAI provided solid guidelines for Web accessibility, the
guidelines of this international group are not legally binding. Many governments
around the world now have laws in place regulating accessibility to the
Internet for those with disabilities (WAI Policies Relating to Web Accessibility).
In the United States there are several regulations already in place that
cover accessibility of the Internet, each with their own sphere of influence.
The WAI keeps an excellent summary of regulations on their site. Following is a brief summary of U.S. laws regarding access to date. You are encouraged to review additional information on the WAI site. They constantly add information as it becomes available.
The American's with Disabilities Act of 1990 is being interpreted to include Web accessibility, even though no case law exists to expand the original language of the Law. Of particular interest is an opinion issued by the U.S. Department of Justice discussing the applicability of the Web within Titles II and III of the ADA. This opinion was issued after Senator Tom Harkin wrote a letter asking about applicability of the Web.
The Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Section 255) and The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act likewise are seen to include provisions that would require Web accessibility although this language does not appear in the statutes and case law has yet to clarify the intent of these regulations. The Reauthorized Rehabilitation Act has two strong sections that pertain to Web access.
Section 504 indicates that educational programs receiving federal funds may not discriminate against students with disabilities based on their disability status. As postsecondary education explodes with online course offerings and online educational services (e.g., library services, registration services) it is hard to see how an institution could comply with this aspect of Section 504 in the absence of an accessible Internet architecture. The recent amendments to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act are the most compelling entry into Web accessibility law. For the first time, the Federal government defined what they meant by "accessible". However, it should be noted that Section 508 is limited to the procurement of goods and services by federal agencies (see the Final Acquisition Regulation issued on April 25, 2001). Many believe that overtime, this will become the national standard for accessibility.
Moreover, there are other statutes in place (e.g., the Assistive Technology Act of 1998) that require all states who receive funding under this Act to comply with the federal accessibility procurement standards (i.e., Section 508). At this time, state governments may or may not be required to provide accessible Web sites.