| ||
| ||
|
Website Development | |
| Domain Names | E Books | Email Marketing | Ezine Marketing | |||
| Internet Marketing | Marketing | PPC Advertising | SEO | |||
| Traffic Building | Web Design | Web Development | Web Hosting | |||
| ||||||
|
| ||||
|
Benefits Of Making Your Website Accessible To Disabled Users - Part 2: The Business Case
The Disability Discrimination Act states that service providers must not discriminate against disabled people. A website is regarded as a service and therefore comes under this law. Some organisations are changing to their websites, but many are seemingly not making the adjustments. Disabled people don't access their website, they say, so why should they care? There are, however, two very good reasons as to why businesses should start taking these issues seriously: There are seven reasons for this being applicable: 1. Your website will be easier to manage An accessible website separates the content (the words and images that we see on the screen) and presentation (the way that these words and images are laid out) of each page. Each web page has an HTML (HyperText Markup Language) document, which contains the words and images for that page (the content), and calls up a CSS (Cascading StyleSheets) document that includes the presentation information - this CSS document is shared by all the pages on the website. To adjust the layout of your website, you only have to make changes in one file, saving considerable time (and therefore money). 2. Your website will be compatible with new browsing technologies In the near future, the use of PDAs, mobile phones and in-car browsers will all regularly be used to access the Internet. The people making use of these new technologies are generally high-income individuals. In order to reach this lucrative target, you will need a website that can work on these machines. To test your website, try accessing it on the Wapalizer, a free program available at http://www.gelon.net, which shows how your site will look on a mobile phone. 3. Your website will appear higher in the search engines By making your website more accessible to web users, you are also making it more accessible to search engines. Search engines cannot usually understand images, JavaScript, Flash, audio and video content. By providing alternative content to each of these programs, search engines will have a better understanding of the purpose of your website. The more confident a search engine is of what your website is about, all other things being equal, the higher it will place your website in the search rankings. 4. You will not have to incur legal fees The RNIB (Royal National Institute for the Blind) and the DRC (Disability Rights Commission) have been exerting pressure on companies and the government to make their websites accessible. Indeed, the DRC is currently investigating 1,000 websites for accessibility (http://www.drc-gb.org/annualreview/foreword/index.asp#internet). If your organisation's website is on this list then you can expect to be hearing from them soon. 5. The download time of your website will be significantly improved Just 25% of UK web users are connected to the Internet via broadband (www.liquidzope.com/abc/2/4currentusage/currentstatebbd/view). You can be sure that if your website takes much longer than ten seconds to download then many of your site visitors will be clicking away and you will lose their custom. 6. The usability of your website will be enhanced There is a certain amount of overlap between web accessibility and web usability. It has been shown that a usability redesign increases the sales/conversion rate of a website by 100% (http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030107.html). 7. You will gain good publicity Make your website accessible to everyone and you can tell the world about it. About The Author This article was written by Trenton Moss. He's crazy about web usability and accessibility - so crazy that he went and started his own web usability and accessibility consultancy (Webcredible - http://www.webcredible.co.uk) to help make the Internet a better place for everyone.
MORE RESOURCES:
Web-Development - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
10 Things You Should Be Monitoring On Your Website Every business needs to know how it is doing. That's the idea behind exit surveys, customer feedback forms, suggestion boxes and other devices. What ROI You Should Expect From Your Web Site Is Your Web Site an Expense or an Investment?Why don't you think of your web site as of an investment rather than of an expense? Having a web site is very similar to having an investment property.Let me show you why. Entangled in the World Wide Web I am just a learner who likes to delve in websites as a hobby. Hobbies are what make life so enjoyable for me. Developing State-enabled Applications With PHP Installment 1Developing State-enabled Applications With PHPWhen a user is browsing through a website and is surfing from one web page to another, sometimes the website needs to remember the actions (e.g. Bring Your Visitors Back Clamoring for More! Maintain and Improve Your Web Site Weekly - Part 1 80% of your Web site is Maintenance!Once your Web site is up, you must maintain it. That means changes, and each time you make a change, you may make a mistake. Let Your Customers Redesign Your Website! When you purchase a new item from a Yahoo! Store, you are asked if you'd like to provide feedback on the transaction. About two weeks after the initial purchase, an email from Yahoo! Stores shows up, asking you to provide feedback for the vendor. Web Accessibility Myths With more and more countries around the world passing laws about blind and disabled access to the Internet (including the Disability Discrimination Act in the UK), web accessibility has been thrown into the spotlight of the online community. This article attempt to put a stop to the misinformation that has been thrown around and tell you the truth behind web accessibility. Building a Web Site Requires the Right Software to Eliminate Headaches and Keep Money in Your Pocket When most people build a web site, they think one simple thing. "If I build it, they will come". Tell me what your website does! You know exactly what your organisation does and what your website offers its users. This information has probably become second nature to you, but first-time visitors to your site won't know this. The Problem with Automated Accessibility Testing Tools An automated accessibility tool is a piece of software which can test a web page, or even an entire website, for accessibility. Automated accessibility tools are useful because they can save you a huge amount of time. Why Local Service Companies Should Have a Website The Internet is being used by local service business to improve sales today. Sales are improved because a website gives a company more credibility and in some cases generates leads. You Need a Website! No matter the size of your business, having a web site is a low cost way to market your services and products twenty-four hours a day. Web sites are a constant advertisement for your business and will help you reach your targeted customers effectively. Effective Webdesign D.zigns dzignerwebs The Basics Before starting on how to design a website effectively, how about clearing some basic web design concepts? Designing Effectively Now that you know what web design and related terms mean, lets get down to the real thing: Designing Effectively How to balance artistic design with practicality and functionality. Benefits Of An Accessible Website: Part 2 - The Business Case The DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) states that service providers must not discriminate against disabled people. A website is regarded as a service and therefore falls under this law, and as such must be made accessible to everyone. The Power Is In The Pipes: How To Get Maximum Leverage From Your Website What is the most important part of your online business?Many people would say: "my website". And that'sunderstandable - it's the most visible part of an internetbusiness. You Need To Treat Your Website Like An Employee - Heres 5 Ways To Do It People often come to me in a state of crisis and say their website isn't working. Usually they're in a cold sweat:"Mike, give me some practical things I can do to get more sales from my website!"You want practical advice? Stop treating your website like an object in your business and start treating it like an employee. Setting Up A CGI Script On Your Web Site Before you set up any scripts you will need some information about your server. You can get this by e-mailing your web hosting provider. Establishing Your Web Presence Part of the success of most home-based businesses is their web presence. After all, you want to benefit from the global exposure, reduced marketing expenses, and low entry costs. Frequent Business Question: How Do You Start a Web Business? Today it seems everyone is jumping on the entrepreneur bandwagon, and who could blame them? Setting your own schedule, working from the comfort of your own home, and never having to deal with a horrible commute or office politics again, this option is quite popular among all ages. With the advent of the technology age, it seems more individuals are looking to the internet to provide them with goods or services. Server Stats - Analyzing Traffic To Your Site Analyzing traffic to a site is a key factor in tweaking search engine optimization and marketing campaigns. Determining how people get to your site is critical.
|
| Domain Names | E Books | Email Marketing | Ezine Marketing | |
| Internet Marketing | Marketing | PPC Advertising | SEO | |
| Traffic Building | Web Design | Web Development | Web Hosting |
|
Home | Site Map | 1000 Free
Places for Ads! | Free
Classified Ads | Free-For-All
Ads | Reciprocal
Links | Search
Engines | |
| Copyright © 2006-2007. The Highland Marketing Group. All Rights Reserved. |
|
| ||
|