The question that many business managers must ask is "why make my website accessible?" Much money has already been spent on the site with probably little financial return to show for it. However many sites look pretty but are difficult to access, as they badly designed in terms of their underlying engineering, and as a result may not be getting the users.

Accessibility Example

    As an example many sites are designed with fixed fonts, which on an Internet Explorer browser will not change size using the Text Size option available. How does this support the many millions of people in the UK who wear glasses? Admittedly you can switch font sizes if you know where to find the accessibility options, but this is making the user do the work.

Other Reasons For Accessibility

                                                                                Making a website accessible is not just for the disabled, it is also to make it available to the widest possible community of users. These include:

• Users of browsers other than Internet Explorer.
• This includes making it possible for mobile phones to be able to access your site. Not easy at the moment but likely to happen soon.
• Making it easier for people with slight defects such as wearing glasses, or slight mobility problems to use your site.
• Making it possible for search engines to find your site.
• Getting it compatible with the new XML standards.
• Not least, making your site available for those with severe disabilities.

The Accessibility Process

   The process of making a site accessible requires two stages:

• Changing the underlying HTML to make the site compatible with XHMTL, CSS, and WAI guidelines.
• Thorough testing with users to see how usable it is.

    The first step does not make a site necessarily usable, but it does mean it is compatible with the underlying architecture of the web and the direction it is going. This then provides a firm foundation for usability testing.

Website Checking Services

• The World Wide Web Consortium run a validation service to check if a site meets HTML standards
• CAST have the Bobby system to check if a site is accessible for those with visual disabilities.
• Anybrowser.com have a site viewer to let you see what your site looks using various versions of HTML.