In September of 2007 the news hit that web community that Target an American discount retail store was sued by The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) alleging that it violates California disabled-rights law because its website is not operable by blind computer users. “The suit charges that the site lacks, for instance, compliant alt-text, an invisible code embedded beneath graphics that allows blind users to decipher images. The suit also contends that because the Web site requires the use of a mouse to complete a transaction, blind customers are unable to make purchases on their own.”
I would expect that after this victory the NFB will be perusing more companies that fail to make their web sites accessible.
It seems that Target was unwilling to negotiate with the NFB, and refused to make their site accessible.
“We tried to convince Target that it should do the right thing and make its website accessible through negotiations,” said Dr. Maurer. “It is unfortunate that Target took the position that it does not have to take the rights of the blind into account. The ruling in this case puts Target and other companies on notice that the blind cannot be treated like second class citizens on the Internet or in any other sphere.”
Over the course of time it seems we have somewhat lost the message Tim Berners-Lee originally invented the internet for, to exchange information to as wide an audience as possible. However thanks to people like Jacob Nelson and the W3c foundation we are again looking at how to really get the message across.
It’s not only just plan ethical to develop for people with special needs and disabilities it’s now a necessity especially if you want to future proof your online presence and stay within the law, I really cannot stress the benefits of this before developing or growing your online presence, image the time and expanse if Amazon had to do this in one go.
Taking these few steps into account in the beginning allows your users to reach information and services without the help of others that they could only have dreamed of accessing in the past. If your site is not accessible to them this benefit is lost and reflects badly on your business.
So what should you do about your existing website or ask your designer when commissioning a new one?
Well first of all, your web designer should be competent in the separation between structure (or content) from presentation this involves a good understanding of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) get your designer to explain the reasons behind the route chosen at the visual stage to see if the structure has been planned out correctly before committing to coding.
Constantly test the development with as many browsers and platforms as possible and if you can afford the extra step get a second opinion from another designer at stages throughout the development
If you want to bring your existing website more inline then a good place to start with is looking at the way images are displayed and adding alt/title tag information along with the colour and size of your text and links however I really do suggest seeking advice before you proceed in investing more time and money in developing a website that fails to address the basic rules of accessibility.
So what are the main factors to take into account?
Cognitive and Neurological Disabilities
Corporate and e-commerce websites can grow in complexity and size, finding the information you want can be a challenge for most of us. This is not helped by sites that use an overly complex design, distracting and repetitive animation such as banners and promotional items.
All of these problems are compounded for users with cognitive and neurological disabilities and this makes some sites completely inaccessible for them. One rule I would really apply is not to use unnecessarily complex language, keep your content simple as your audience may have a low literacy level, or be viewing your websites content as a second-language intimidating your audience with lots of unnecessary jargon will send them off to a competitor.
Visually Disabled Users
Next time you are on the web, try enlarging the text size and see how well it scales or breaks the design, most people I usability test over the age of 50 prefer to increase the font size by default allowing them to read all the information available, it’s also a very good idea to use strong contrasting colours when distinguishing content from links.
Visually disabled users ranging from colour blind to fully blind have problems with images that do not provide a text description (alt/title tag) of what they show. Without this description a user who finds it hard to view an image and has no way of knowing what it is or what it represents.
Blind users using a screen reader have problems understanding sites that are not logically built. Often a Web site that looks nice visually will be a complete mess when it is listened to through a screen reader.
Hearing Disabilities
In a similar way to visually disabled users not having any way of understanding an image, users with hearing disabilities have no way of understanding information that is communicated with sound, unless an alternative is provided that does not use sound, such as a text description or an image.
Physical Disabilities
It’s natural to grab the mouse and start navigating round your PC but have you tried using a Web site without one? Unless you were lucky with the site you chose then you probably found it very difficult. Physically disabled users are often incapable of using a mouse. Unless these users needs are taken into account when creating Web site navigation and input methods physically disabled users will sometimes find a Web site completely inaccessible.
Aging-Related Conditions
Changes in people’s functional ability due to aging can include changes in abilities or a combination of abilities including vision, hearing, dexterity and memory. Barriers can include any of the issues already mentioned above. Any one of these limitations can affect an individual’s ability to access Web content. Together, these changes can become more complex to accommodate.
For example, someone with low vision may need screen magnification, however when using screen magnification the user loses surrounding contextual information, which adds to the difficulty which a user with short-term memory loss might experience on a Web site.
Accessible standards compliance all the way
Thankfully now browsers are bridging the gap more and over the past two years we have seen a huge shift in how websites are being constructed as designers are being made more aware of the benefits of this approach and anyone that is thinking of revamping a website should make sure that this approach is at the top of any brief.
But it doesn’t stop there. Accessible standards compliant web design has benefits for other users too.
The following groups will benefit from following the guidelines for making your site accessible:
• Users of mobile devices,
• Low bandwidth users,
• Users in a noisy environment or no sound such as in offices,
• Users with a low literacy level,
• Second-language users,
• Search engine indexing of your content helping to push you further up the rankings
The Financial Rewards of Accessible Web Sites
Well if it’s not obvious by now the main one is its accessible, accessible to users to platforms and devices and you are future proofing yourself from a legal side, The maintenance is made easier, meaning your site can be more easily altered. Having cleaner code reduces load times by 50% that not only saves in bandwidth cost but translates into a better user experience, especially when you think users tend to close a web page when it takes more than 10 seconds to load.
Often it will also be more accessible to search engines. Poorly structured inaccessible websites can often mean that some of the relevance of your text is misinterpreted by search engines. This means you could be losing out in search engine listings. By having a cleanly structured web standards website you are helping to ensure that your site (and its keywords) are correctly represented in search engines.
The obvious conclusion to this article is that web standards bring real tangible benefits to business. Web standards are the future of the internet and to ignore it could leave your business trailing behind the online competition.