Benefits of accessibility
Higher search engine ranking
By improving your web site's accessibility, you will also improve its accessibility to search engines.
Normally, search engines cannot understand images, JavaScript, Flash, audio and video content. They will understand the purpose of your web site more easily if you are providing alternative, accessible content. As they become more confident about your web site, the search engines will be more likely to give it higher rankings.
Reach the widest possible audience
Making your site accessible will allow you to reach a much larger audience. Without meaning to, many organisations make their sites and applications difficult to access. In that way, they miss out on a large potential audience, estimated at over 10% of online users.Less time-consuming to manage
An accessible web site separates the content (the words and images that we see on the screen) and presentation (the way that these words and images are laid out) of each page.
Each web page has an HTML document which contains the content for that page (HTML is the basic language of the Internet). It calls up a CSS document (cascading style sheet) containing the presentation information. This CSS document is shared by all the pages on the web site. This means that to change the layout of an accessible web site, you only have to make changes in one file, saving time and money.
Ready for the future of the Internet
Web sites that are not accessible struggle to cope with the variety of methods being used to access the Internet, especially handheld devices.
If your web site does not become accessible within the next five years, you will lose a large number of Internet users. By making the necessary adjustments now, however, you will be building a long-term future for your site.
Promoting equality
There is a moral and social obligation to make your organisation accessible to everyone. Denying people access to information is as serious a form of discrimination as denying them physical access to your premises.Meeting legal requirements
Accessibility is increasingly becoming a legal requirement, especially within the public sector. The UK government is committed to making information accessible to everyone.
Within the private sector, it is essential to work to accessibility guidelines, in order to protect your business against civil legal actions. Several actions have already been taken against sites.
Improved usability for everyone
Many of the features that make a web site accessible do not only benefit the users with disabilities. They are useful for everyone else, too.
The nature of certain impairments
The very nature of certain impairments (for example, diminished mobility) means that the disabled user is more likely to benefit from online services such as shopping, banking or accessing information.
Surveys suggest that people with disabilities spend twice as much time on the Internet as those without disabilities. Few organisations capitalise on the needs of some of their potential users.
The ageing population.
- Accessible design benefits the ageing population.
- Research shows that online users aged between 50 and 65 are the most active online shoppers, with over 25% making regular online purchases.
- Research also shows that the fastest-growing segment is the group aged 65 and over.
