Jump to content

Accessibility not important?


LSW

Recommended Posts

So, are you one of those people who argue that accessibility is not needed? Here are some questions for you that I hope will cause you to reconsider.

 

Do you have statistics? How many blind users do you have? How many color blind users? How many with mobility problems? How many with cognitive problems? I get this alto, "We don't have enough disabled people to make it worth it." Well then how many do you have? Show me the numbers. But they can not. So if you can not tell me how many disabled visitor you have, how can you claim they are not enough?

 

"No one has complained so far..." Aaaaaahhhhh, OK. That simply tells me that no one complains, not that there is no problem. How often do you really complain about things and how often do you just go somewhere else? Ever complained about something in a grocery store and were told no one else has a problem finding things? How would you feel and what would you do if the store did say that to you? Yet that is what you are telling me, why make things better for a user with problems since no one else has complained. If one person did complain would you do a redesign? Really? The problem is, people with problems find web sites every day, most every web site is problematic. Would you write twenty letters a day to tell someone their web site is a problem? After how many non-replies and a number of ?no one else has complained? letters would you simply quit and if a site caused problems just leave and find a new one to try at?

 

Look around the parking lot next time you go to work if you are a business. Do you have handicapped parking? How often do you really have people use them? Yet you have them... so why would you have handicapped parking while offering your handicapped web user nothing? You can bet that you have more handicapped persons using your web site then you parking spots. If you wish to tell me it is law to have parking... then you mean we must make it law for web sites too? Germans have the BiTV law, the British have the DDA and Americans have section 508 of the ADA. 508 is really just for federal web sites, many states have adopted it. What we do have in most counties are laws against discrimination. Discrimination is illegal. If you make a web site for only healthy, sighted people using IE - are you not discriminating against those with disabilities or other choices in software? Is that then not illegal? Do we need a law to force you to do the right thing for your users and fellow humans?

 

I work for a newspaper. Very rough country here, steep streets and the like. Snow removal is something that does happen on back streets... at some point. But we are told that carriers MUST deliver to people living up steep hills on slippery, icy streets. That is important, we must serve these customers their papers regardless, it is our sacred duty. If you are a customer like that you expect it to do you not? Yet delivering a web site to someone more difficult... a Firefox user, Opera user, PDA or Cell phone user... this is to much to be expected?

 

Accessibility is not something you should have to do... it is something you should do of your own choice because it is the right thing to do and because it makes your web site more available to everyone and easier to maintain. Don't be a follower doing what you must with threats of fines... do it by choice and be a leader at the front of the movement. Show your users that you care about their needs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...