Looks pretty: check.

Easy to navigate: check.

Displays full contact details: check.

There’s one point that’s often missing from many business’s web design checklists, and that’s accessibility. By law, all publicly accessed websites must comply with Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines, specifically Section 19 which makes it unlawful for a provider of services to discriminate against a disabled person. Websites fall under this law, as they constitute a service, and they must be accessible to visually impaired people who use software to view websites.

Not only is accessibility a legal requirement – and the right thing to do morally – it’s also an important part of SEO. Search engine robots operate in the same way as the software that a visually impaired person would use.

Many websites overlook the WAI guidelines and do not prioritise accessibility, but there are actually a lot of benefits to designing a website to meet accessibility standards. Search engines will look more favourably on your site, as mentioned, and you will probably find it loads more quickly too. By making sure your website is designed in such a way that disabled people can use it, you will be expanding your audience reach and this is likely to result in increased sales.

Accessible: check.

Tags: accessibility, accessibility standards, WAI, Web Accessibility Initiative, Web Design, website accessibility

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 at 4:37 pm and is filed under Web Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.