Handicapped access has changed the way brick-and-mortar
retailers design their stores. Now it's e-tailers' turn.
Changing market conditions and regulations are driving the
internet's transformation into a friendlier environment for the
disabled.
America's estimated 54 million disabled persons are already
a significant and growing market, says the National Organization on
Disability--and they're turning to the net to shop. Jay
Leventhal, editor of AccessWorld, an online magazine published by
the American Foundation for the Blind, says that when his
publication first started in 2000, it wasn't practical because
few blind people had web access. "But there are a lot more
now," he says.
The blind population is greatly influenced by word-of-mouth
advertising. When blind consumers hear about an accessible site,
"they will pass it on to a few hundred people on one listserv,
and somebody else will pass it on to another," Leventhal says.
"That could turn into thousands of people using a
website." And given their significant transportation problems,
blind consumers are loyal to accessible sites.
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Last year, both Priceline.com and Ramada.com agreed to make their sites more
accessible to the blind and visually impaired after a settlement
was reached with the state of New York. The New York attorney
general launched the action, making the case that the Americans
With Disabilities Act requires that private sites be accessible to
blind and visually impaired users.
But there are other reasons to make your site accessible. Your
site will also be easier for people using PDAs and cell phones to
access. Handhelds work best on sites with small images and limited
amounts of Flash and JavaScript. Users with older hardware and text
browsers, or computers set to view text-only will also benefit. The
fact is, the same techniques that make a page accessible to the
disabled increase its usability level for all visitors.
"As websites are designed for accessibility, they have
become better sites overall," says Mary Elges, creative design
consultant at Tallán Inc., a Glastonbury, Connecticut,
provider of web and tech solutions. "While modifying your site
may only appear to help visitors who might have physical, sensory,
cognitive or work-related constraints, others do benefit."
Keep It Simple
It's best to follow accessibility standards authored by the
Web Accessibility
Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium, an organization
that recommends internet standards. A critical guideline involves
making sure all images include alt tags--descriptive text added
within the image's HTML tag. Since an alt tag contains text, it
can be accessible to screen-reader software, which converts text
into speech. When sites show graphics unidentified by text, readers
can't capture their information.
Without these tags, "I can pick a book on Amazon, but I
can't find the button that says 'add this book to your
cart,'" says Leventhal, who is blind and uses
screen-reader software.
Other guidelines include making sure pages have contrasting
colors so information can be viewed by people with color-viewing
disabilities, ensuring clear navigation, and using text links that
describe where a user is going when he or she clicks. The
guidelines also recommend using Flash or JavaScript cautiously and
providing alternatives to auditory content for the
hearing-impaired. To test one of your web pages for compliance with
accessibility guidelines, try Watchfire's free online service.
Who's Accessible Now?
CableOrganizer.com, a one-stop shop for wire
management products, redesigned its website about a year and a half
ago to remove barriers that were giving customers--both disabled
and not--difficulty. "Making your site accessible is good for
two reasons," says Paul Holstein, 40, who co-founded the
million-dollar Fort Lauderdale, Florida, business with his wife,
Valerie, 31. "You help people who use screen-readers, but you
are also making your site more compatible for the different web
browsers out there."
Improving accessibility is easier than it seems. Holstein uses
alt tags and avoids using Flash and JavaScript. He did the upgrade
in-house, which took about 40 to 50 hours of work. Some of the work
was also subcontracted to a graphics professional.
Perhaps it's time you considered making your website
accessible to the disabled. Not only will you increase your
potential audience, but you'll also avoid lawsuits and have a
site that's responsive to text-based technologies like cell
phones and PDAs. Surely that's worth a little effort.
Melissa Campanelli is a marketing and technology writer in
New York City.