Making your Web site Accessible to the Disabled Community
What is Web site Accessibility?

Web site accessibility concerns actual/ potential customers visiting Web sites and being able to access its content.  This article looks in particular at making Web sites accessible to all customers including disabled people who may be physically disabled, deaf, blind or partially sighted.  It is also a legal requirement of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA), and on 1st October 1999, section 21 of the Act was introduced, placing a duty on service providers to make information about their services accessible for blind and partially sighted people

The aim of all SMEs is to be successful and therefore it makes good business sense to cater for all customers including disabled, by ensuring that Web sites are accessible to all.  This can result in increased revenues and hence, increased profits and at the same time avoid the possibility of being involved in a lawsuit.  Considering that there are 8.5 million people in the UK with some level of disability, ignoring this issue could mean a loss of this potential revenue.

One site that ignored the needs of the disabled and used images to convey crucial information without alternative textual content was the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games.  A blind Australian complained to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission when he was unable to access the information on the site.  The Sydney Committee was subsequently ordered to change their site.