*Accessible Web Design: What is it, why should you care?

Accessible Web Design – Design for the web that attempts to make information available to all users. It is a philosophy and methodology that promotes web pages with which people can interact according to their needs and preferences.
In popular jargon it refers to design for people with disabilities, especially people with blindness and other visual impairments, but it is really a more universal notion. It is the natural extension of the concept of usability, the design of interfaces that are effective, efficient and satisfying.

Why care?

1. Compliance With Regulatory and Legal Requirements

• Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards)
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Section 255 of Telecommunications Act
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

1. Exposure to More People
   
   People with disabilities, in general
   An estimated 19.4% of civilians in the United States, totaling 48.9 million people, have a disability. Almost half of these people (an estimated 24.1 million people) can be considered to have a severe disability. This includes seven percent or more of the browsing population of the United States, says the annual user survey completed by Georgia Tech. Less conservative estimates place this browsing population as high as 17% of the total.
   Between 15% and 30% of the population have functional limitations that can affect their ability to use technology products (50 million in US, 750 million worldwide). It is estimated that people with disabilities control a discretionary income of over $175 billion annually in US alone.
   Total rates of disability are increasing steadily, as improved medical care allows people to survive conditions and accidents that would previously have been fatal.
   
   Seniors with disabilities
   As we age, most people experience a decrease in vision, hearing, physical abilities, and cognitive abilities. The percentages of people with disabilities increases significantly with age – 13.6% at age18-44, 30% at 45-64, 46% at 65-74, 64% at 75-84. Use of AT increases with age, with 52% of AT devices used by those 65+.
   
   The highest level of discretionary income in the US is held by older Americans, especially those between 64-69, at $6,920.00 per year. The age group with the highest concentration of online buyers is the 50-64 age segment, with over 25% making online purchases. The fastest growing segment of the U.S. population is the 65 and over group. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that the population of those 65 and over will more than double between now and the year 2050, to 80 million. The result of all this – a large and rapidly expanding market of web users that have significant disposable income and a need for accessible web sites.
   
   This market segment also will increase as more of the U. S. population over the age of 55 adopts an online lifestyle, and chooses adaptive technology tools such as text or speaking browsers, or wants to enlarge text.
   
2. Exposure to More Situations: New places, New devices
   
   Accessible web sites accommodate people in a wider range of situations, increasing the situations in which a web site can be used effectively.
   The market segment for accessible web sites will increase as more people begin to use portable and appliance web browsing tools, such as web telephones and personal digital assistants (PDA’s). These devices are often bought by affluent consumers who have significant disposable income.
   
3. Better Design and Implementation
   
   Accessibility is the logical extension of usability. Accessibility features often increase usability for all people.
   
   Accessible sites usually transform gracefully, meaning that they are usable with different hardware and software, modes and configurations. Examples: large monitors, screen readers, PDA’s, different platforms, browsers. Separation of structure and presentation is critical to graceful transformation, and inherent in accessible design.
   
   Implementation with style sheets maintains consistency, upholds standards and simplifies maintenance.
   
4. Cost Savings
   
   Accessibility increases usability; this can reduce support calls and costs. Style sheets reduce maintenance costs. Text is easier to manage and maintain than images and multimedia.
   
   Providing accessible online products and services can reduce requests for other formats (Braille, large-print, etc.).
   
   Finally, accessible web sites can reduce legal costs. A site in compliance with accepted standards will not have the same risk of costly complaint procedures and lawsuits.
   
5. Good Self-Promotion
   Accessible design shows concern for all people; it is good for one’s image. It allows those in compliance to include accessibility status in all marketing materials, issue information in press releases, list sites as “accessible” in public forums, such as Bobby.
   
   Accessible sites can identify themselves by featuring logos of accessibility verification sites and tools.
   
   Accessible sites can distinguish themselves through their cutting-edge accessibility efforts. It is estimated that only one in four sites meet even minimum requirements inspired by the Web Accessibility Initiative for disabled web users, such as providing text descriptions of images for the blind.
   
   Accessibility can provide a means to distinguish oneself from the competition.

*Selected material from Thatcher, J., et al. Constructing Accessible Web Sites (2002) glasshaus, Ltd., Birmingham, UK