What Is Online Accessibility?
Online accessibility is about ensuring that a website is as accessible as possible to everyone, irrespective of physical or learning restrictions, their experience or the method they are using to access the website. Therefore, it is about making sure that everyone has the opportunity to have the same online experience.
Why make your website accessible?
- There is a legal requirement to do so
The law governing this issue is contained within the Disability Discrimination Act. The Act is supported by the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) guidelines and good practice guidelines (also known as PAS 78) published by the Disability Rights Commission. You can read more about the law and guidelines relating to online accessibility by clicking here.
- By making a website accessible it automatically has the potential to reach a wider audience
It makes good business sense that the more people who can access your website, the greater potential clients or customers you can reach. There are about 8 million people in the UK with some kind of physical disability. There are a further 2 million who have a visual disability that affects how they can use websites to some degree. Put simply, that’s an awful lot of people who may not be able to use your site at all, or will be unable to find the information they want.
- Accessible websites get more traffic because they are easier for search engines to find
Search engines look at websites in the same way as screen-reader technology used by blind and partially sighted people. This means that if your website has been built and designed according to best practice, search engines will find it much easier to tell what your site is about. If search engines can find the information they are looking quickly and easily it stands to reason your site is likely to get more visitors and that they will browse your site for longer.
- An accessible website is likely to be more consistent and therefore easier for non-disabled users to use, as well as disabled users
Accessibility and usability go hand-in-hand. A site that has been constructed in a simple and logical manner not only benefits those with certain kinds of restrictions but also those without. We all know how frustrating it can be to be looking for something specific but not to be able to find what you are looking for. We give up, and look somewhere else. An accessible, usable site is clearly desirable if you want everyone to be able to visit your site with ease.
- From a public relations perspective, it is desirable to be socially responsible and to follow best practice guidelines.
Showing that your company has put online accessibility on its priority list is likely to increase public trust and confidence in your products or services. The publicity generated from challenges to your company’s accessibility policy would damage your professional reputation and credentials. At Empower Ability, we give an award each month to a website for its efforts towards accessibility and usability. You can read more about the Empower Ability Accessibility Award by clicking here.