Our Services - Accessible Website Design
The accessibility of websites covers much more than just access for the disabled. It's about giving people unhindered access to a web site from various devices, such as web-enabled televisions, mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDA's).
It's also about giving access to users who have different screen sizes, browser types and settings, or those who do not have plug-ins such as Flash.
What is disabled access on the web?
For people with sensory or mobility impairments, the Internet can be a mixed blessing. Home shopping, for example, can be invaluable to people who prefer not to visit busy shopping centres or for whom these places are inaccessible. However, in much the same way as a building may be problematic to the disabled, a web site may also present barriers to access.
For example, a visually impaired Internet user can use a screen reader to translate the contents of web pages for speech synthesisers or Braille displays. The user will struggle to understand web pages if, for example, images are displayed on the page without a text alternative.
How does this affect my business?
Ensuring that your website is accessible to the widest possible audience should have a positive impact on your business.
You should make more money, as more customers will be able to access your service. The 9.1 million Disabled People in the UK have a discretionary income of more than £50 billion per year.
You should save money, as a site that is organised and coded to be accessible is likely to be easier to maintain, and your pages will load quicker so you will save on bandwidth.
More people should find your site via search engines such as Google. Web content that is clearly structured to increase accessibility for disabled people also makes it easier for search engines to index that content.
Will I be sued if my site is not accessible?
As yet, no UK business or organisation has been prosecuted for having an inaccessible website. If a customer contacts you about an access issue with your website you should try to resolve the dispute by informal or formal discussion.
What accessibility level is required?
To be safe, you should aim to ensure your website meets at least Priority 2 or AA of the World Wide Web Consortium Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
The European Union recommend that member states websites conform to at least Priority 2 of the W3C/WCAG guidelines.
UK Government recommends that government websites should achieve Priority 2 compliance.
If you have some questions and want to know more...
For more information on our accessible web site design service contact the studio on 01360 661 028 for a chat.
