Why Build Accessible Web Sites

see: http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/Drafts/PWD-Use-Web/ How People with Disabilities use the Web. see: http://www.crittur.com/access/why.html see http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles%2Farchive%2Fl0801%2F32l01%2F32l01%2Easp&guid=z314bzho&searchtype=&WordList=

Why Build Accessible Web Sites?

Let me see if I can rack up enought reasons for you to consider building or commisioning a standards compliant accessi ble Web site. We ll ther are the obvious ones; in the UK alone there are 8.5 millio diabled people, with a spending power of ?not equal]?0 billion per year; in America there are 50million disable people (I'll leave you to do the spendign power maths), the re are now more devices connected tot heinterne tthat you or I could shake a stick at: tvs, pdas, blah blah blah Jim, Jim, Jim, sell the benefits nor the features - why should anyone want to create accessible Web sites? let's cut to the chase - without ex plaination at this point here is a list of all the potential benefits of having an standards based accessible Web site: The power of standards see Web Standards FAQ: http://www.webstandards.org/edu_faq_n4.html

Business case:

DRC "There are 8.5 million disabled people in Britain - one in seven of the population. They have a spending power of around ?not equal]?0 billion each year." (http://www.drc-gb.org/drc/Campaigns/Page424.asp)50million disabled people in America? , creater ease of use, article by tog (potato peeler), articles by Jakob Neilson, Scottish Enterprise smart guide,
Mr. Dennis C. Hayes, Inventor of the Hayes Modem; Chairman, US Internet Industry Association Mr. Hayes is chairman of the U.S. Internet Industry Association and the inventor of the PC modem, referred to as the Hayes modem, which he invented in 1977. Mr. Hayes later founded D.C. Hayes Associates, which became a leader in the modem industry. He retired as chairman of that company in 1998.(http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/judiciary/hju65010.000/hju65010_0.htm )

I am also one of the individuals who made today's Internet possible. In 1977, I sat at my kitchen table in Atlanta, GA, and developed the core technology for the Hayes asynchronous modem, a device that enabled computers to communicate with one another across common telephone lines. This device for the first time put computer communications within the reach of ordinary families. And it created the means for online services to develop - from the early services like CompuServe, to the bulletin board systems of the early Nineties, to the Internet used by 120 million Americans today. Because I helped to make the Internet possible, it is especially ironic that I am not able to use much of its best content. A congenital, degenerative vision condition has reduced my eyesight over the past few years. I haven't lost my sight, but do require additional magnification and other assistance to see well. And on the Internet, that is a significant problem - many of the most important destinations are so poorly designed that they are difficult for the even the average user to navigate, much less a vision-impaired user. What this means is that for 50 million disabled Americans, the Internet is either totally or partially inaccessible. This is a source of great frustration for disabled people, since they are among the most likely to benefit from the products and services offered on the Internet."

Colour Picker and Tester Can your audience read your web pages? About 8% of men and a few women are colour blind. See colour tester: http://www.TessPub.com/colours.html

Education

Stats about disabled people - the new bill - the loss from the economy

legislation:

artic le by Martin Sloan, http://elj.warwick.ac.uk/jilt/01-2/sloan.html, legislation,

Social Inclusion

Emphasise Benefits not features - how to sell the idea of an accessible standards based Web site to clients/ or why buy into one

Every marketing articles I've ever read has always come out with teh line 'emphasise the benefits not the features' of your product/service. So as a salesman of accessibility - here are the benefits:

Usability Improvements for all

: Good Grips: U sability before Branding:(http://www.asktog.com/columns/048GoodGrips.html) "Good Grips kitchen tools grew out of one man's desire to build a better potato peeler for his arthritic wife. It has become one of the great marketing stories of the last decade, garnering a huge market share. Software designers can take from it two lessons: Good designs for the disabled can also benefit the normally-abled, and effective product design must come before "branding."
More visitors
Web site is easier to use
easier to use = more visitors = more visitors means more money( if that's what your site is about) or a greater response and effectiveness of your message
proliferation of internet connected devices
internet growth/direction context
Problems occurr when the Web replaces traditional sources of information - and beccomes the only way to access - e.g. in hte Workplace, banking, education, etc W3c WAI slides: Why is Web Accessibility an Issue? There are several reasons why Web accessibility is important: use of the Web is spreading rapidly into all areas of society; there are barriers on the Web for many types of disabilities; millions of people have disabilities that affect access to the Web; Web accessibility has carry-over benefits for other users; some Web sites are required to be accessible. The Web is the fastest-adopted technology in history. For people with disabilities, it's sometimes a "mixed blessing": It is displaci ng traditional sources of information & interaction -- schools, libraries, print materials, discourse of the workplace. some of the traditional resources were accessible; some not. The Web is becoming a key, but somet imes inaccessible, resource for: news, information, commerce, entertainment classroom education, distance learning job searching, and workplace interaction civic participation -- laws, voting, government information, services An accessible Web will mean unprecedented access to information for people with disabilities. The Web can present barriers to people with different kinds of disabilities: visual disabilities: unlabeled graphics, undescribed video poorly marked-up tables or frames lack of keyboard support or screen reader compatibility hearing disabilities: lack of captioning for audio proliferation of text without visual signposts physical disabilities: lack of keyboard or single-switch support for menu commands cognitive or neurological disabilities: lack of consistent navigation structure overly complex presentation or language lack of illustrative non-text materials flickering or strobing designs on pages Web Accessibility is a Marketplace Issue 10% to 20% of the population in most cou ntries has disabilities. not all of those disabilities affect access to the Web vision, hearing, dexterity, short-term memory problems do affect access, but difficulty walking, heart condition, etc., don't affe ct access. Average age of population in many countries is increasing aging sometimes results in combinations of accessibility issues vision & hearing changes, changes in dexterity & memory. Few organizations c an afford to deliberately miss this market sector. Accessibility Contributes to Universal Design Accessible Web design contributes to better design for other users: multi-modality (support for visual, auditory, tactile access) benefits users of: mobile phones with small display screens, Web-TV, kiosks multi-modality increases usability of Web sites in different situations low bandwidth (images are slow to download) noisy environments (diff icult to hear the audio) screen-glare (difficult to see the screen) driving (eyes and hands are "busy") redundant text/audio/video can support different learning styles; low literacy levels; second-lang uage access style sheets can support more efficient page transmission and site maintenance captioning of audio files supports better machine indexing of content; faster searching of content 1. Ensuring that Web Technologies Support Accessibility WAI coordinates with other W3C working groups to ensure that Web technologies support accessibility. The following specifications already include support for accessibility: HTML 4.0 accessibility features include: style sheet linkage; alternative representation; navigation; improved table mark-up CSS2 accessibility features include: layout; fonts; user control; aural CSS SMIL accessibility features include: synchronization of captioning & audio description MathML semantic representation of math content In addition, WAI is working on accessibility issues in many current areas of W3C technology development, including: Mobile Access, Internationalization (I18N), XML, SVG, SYMM, DOM, P3P, Web Characterization and others. Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines became a W3C Recommendation February 3, 2000 Better suppo rt for creation of accessible Web content WYSIWIG editors conversion tools (word processors, presentation software) tools that dynamically generate Web pages from databases image editors, site management tools These guidelines address: creation of valid content strategies for prompting, alerting, help, validation accessibility of the user interface. 3. Developing Tools to Evaluate & Facilitate Accessibility An Evaluation and Repair Interest Group and an Evaluation and Repair Working Group coordinate discussion and development on tools to facilitate accessibility. There are several areas of work: Evaluation of site accessibility: coordination with developers of tools s uch as CAST's Bobby development of "Techniques for Accessibility Evaluation and Repair Tools" developing a reporting tool for manual Web site review Retrofitting tools to walk through inaccessible sites & make them accessible Proxy conversion tools gateways to extrapolate missing alternative text, linearize tables, etc. SEE http://www.w3.org/Talks/WAI-Intro/slide23-0.html Hi Graham: Yes, it is (long URL) http://www.businessweek.com/print/bwdaily/dnflash/jun2001/nf20010613_081.htm Steve ITS NYSED >>> Graham Oliver <graham_oliver@yahoo.com> 07/23/01 10:57PM >>> I saw Steve Balmer quoted in a recent interview as saying 'Accessible Design is good design' just looking for the URL. Anyone have it? Cheers Links: http://usableweb.com/topics/000262-0-0.html http://www.webreview.com/2001/03_16/webauthors/index04.shtml - how many disabled people with a disability? Article below: March 16, 2001 > Web Authors Web Accessibi lity: 500 Million and Growing By Michael G. Paciello Rank 1 At first glance, it's hard to believe that more than 500 million people make up what has always been viewed by mainstream industry as a small niche market. This is in fact a 1980 estimate maintained by the United Nations and contained in their report on the World Programme of Action Concerning People with Disabilities. No doubt this number has increased in 20 years. Of course, not all of those people are impacted by accessibility issues on the Web. It's important to remember, however, that people with disabilities are found in all socio-economic levels. Therefore it's likely that the number of disabled users with access to the Internet will be proportionally similar. Even among Internet users who have disabilities, not all of them present accessibility issues. For example, someone who is paraplegic will likely not have trouble typing, operating a mouse, seeing, or hearing, unless they have an additional unrelated disability. Someone who must refrain from strenuous aerobic activity due to a heart condition won't necessarily have trouble surfing the Web. This doesn't mean, however, that the community of people with disabilities that do impact Internet use isn't statistically meaningful. Indeed, this community numbers in the tens of millions. As more and more people gain access to the Internet, the wired disability community continues to grow at incredible rates. Note the following statistics: In the European Community, approximately 37 milli on people (or 1 in every 10 citizens) have a disability. There are more than 4 million Canadians (or 1 in every 7 individuals) with a disability. Approximately 3.7 million Australians live with a disability. In the United States, according to statistics a vailable in the 1997 U.S. census, approximately 54 million people live with at least one disability. There's no hiding the fact that the population of able-bodied people outnumbers the population of those with disabilities. This remains true on the Internet. On the other hand, tens of millions is an enormous number, regardless of what the population is for the rest of the world. Can you think of any business that wouldn't jump at the opportunity to position and sell a product or service to as little as 1 percent of that number? With the growth of electronic commerce making it easier for businesses to reach the consumer, who could afford to miss the opportunity? A report posted in Internet World based on data compiled by Jupiter Communications forecasts that online consumer spending will reach $29.4 billion by the year 2002. Perhaps best of all, the Web enables you to market and sell your products to the disabilities community market with minimal effort and cost. In most cases, it's no more work than si mply ensuring that your Web site includes a text description of the products and services you are selling. E-commerce is the new wave for businesses. In one fell swoop, you can go online, reach bigger markets, and establish a new clientele. The purchasin g power of people with disabilities is also at an all-time high. According to a 1998 report released by the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, "Consumers with disabilities control more than $175 billion in discretionary income. They, like all consumers, are more likely to patronize businesses where they feel welcome. Accessible stores, products and services, along with employees with disabilities, will help customers with disabilities feel that their business is appreciated." Clearly, the effect of the population of consumers with disabilities on electronic commerce has influenced world governments and international standards-based industry organizations to launch creative initiatives to address the needs of the disabled consumer. Exactly how large is the market? National Statistics In December 1997, based on a census taken during the four-month period of October 1994 to January 1995, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Census reported that 1 in 5 Americans or (54 million people), have some kind of disability. This is about 20 percent of all U.S. citizens, which comprises a larger minority population than African Americans (approximately 30 million). Additionally, the same report highlighted the following breakdown of those same statistics: 1 in 10 Americans has a severe disability. Among American children aged 6-14, 1 in 8 have some type of disability. 1 in 2 Americans 65 years and older has a disability. 1 in 5 Americans between the ages of 15 and 64 years has a disability To further emphasize that nearly 20 percent of all Americans have some kind of disability, InfoUse's 1996 edition of the Chartbook on Disability in the United States estimated that 19.4 percent of noninstitutionalized U.S. citizens had a di sability at that time. Of those, an estimated 24.1 million people had a severe disability. The report estimated that 13.1 million people use assistive technology for anatomical, mobility, hearing, vision, and speech disabilities. Another interesting ser ies of data related to people with disabilities involves the workforce. The Chartbook on Disability in the United States (1996 edition) noted that in 1994, 52 percent of the disabilities population were part of the workforce. Continuing advances in assist ive technology are enabling more people with disabilities to enter the workforce in greater numbers than ever before. The Internet and Web have played important roles in this advancement, simply by providing greater access to information and services to a ll people. While the statistics regarding the population of people with disabilities may come as a surprise to some, almost 30 percent of all families in the United States are affected by a member who has some type of disability. The report titled Famili es with Disabilities in the United States , released in 1996, noted the following: An estimated 20.3 million families, or 29 percent of all 69.6 million families in the United States, have at least one member with a disability (as measured by having an a ctivity limitation). When a family has a member with a disability, that member is most likely to be a householder. For example, in 88 percent of partnered families with disabilities, one or both partners have a disability. An estimated 2.3 million partner ed families contain one or more children with a disability. Some 3.8 million families, or 6 percent of all families, contain one or more children with disabilities. Most of these (3.4 million, or 89 percent) have one child with a disability. The rate of d isability is 29 percent for white families, 32 percent for black families, and 22 percent for other races. Among Hispanic families, 23 percent have members with disabilities. Almost without a doubt, very few families in the United States are left untouched or unattached to an individual with a disability. International Statistics On the international front, the statistics are not as easy to come by, but those that are available are consistent with the United Nation's report that approximately 1 in 10 people in the world has a disability. In Europe, 1 in every 10 people, or approximately 37 million people, have a disability. The European Community (EC) is committed to the mainstreaming of their citizens with disabilities. In a report distributed by the European Commission on the Equality of Opportunity for People with Disabilities, the Commission reported that 5.5 billion ECU would be allocated during the five-year period of 1994-1999 to combat exclusion of people with disabilities in the workforce. This report also noted that the Employment-HORIZON initiative, a part of the EC's Employment Community Initiative, was allocated 513 million ECU to advance employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Again, to further emphasize the high level of awareness involving issues of accessibility to information, the Commission on Equality of Opportunity stated the following in Part VI of "Mainstreaming: Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)" (emphasis is mine): 49. The Commission is actively interested in exploring the possibilities for harnessing all aspects of the Information Society in the achievement of equal opportunities for people with disabilities and in improving their living and working conditions. These questions are discussed in general in the Commission's Green Paper on Living and Working in the Information Society: "People First". An internal ad hoc group will be set up by the Commission to take this forward with the mandate to examine the scope for a special initiative at E uropean level, building on relevant experience to date, for example in the TIDE Initiative. This will be based on a review of good applications of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in favour of people with disabilities, and the further pot ential for developing economies of scale in making ICTs more widely accessible and useful to people with disabilities. A 1996 report published by the Canadian Premier's Council on the Status of Disabled Persons in Canada indicated that of the 27.3 millio n Canadians, about 1 in 7 (or approximately 4.2 million) have a disability. In Australia, according to a 1997 publication by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported in 1993 that there were 3,176,7 00 people in Australia with a disability. This constituted approximately 18 percent of the Australian population at that time. See also: http://www.knowbility.org/accessibility.html

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