Is Your Web Site Accessible?
Consider the following facts and figures:
- About 2.4 million Canadians between 15 and 64 years of age have a disability
- Some 250,000 Canadians have poor vision. Almost 25% are "legally blind"
- Seniors, the fastest growing group of online web surfers, suffer with failing eyesight and dexterity
- In the US, individuals with disabilities have a combined income of nearly $700 billion. Of that figure, $175 billion is discretionary income.
Since 2004, Eldoren Design, one of BC's leading web design firms working with clients all over the continent, has specialized in developing what is known as "Accessible" web sites. These are web sites that are developed to the current W3C Web Standards (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) and more importantly are developed to be accessible to vision impaired web surfers, those suffering from motor neuron diseases, those using assistive technology such as screen readers and others with cognitive impairments.
Canada will SOON be adopting Disability Act changes that will require gov't funded projects, community sites and sites that are developed for the general public to meet certain legal "Accessible" guidelines. Otherwise they risk being sued for discrimination and action taken against them. It is expected in the coming 2-3 years, that ALL sites produced in Canada will have to meet these requirements.
Currently sites in Australia, The United Kingdom, many countries in Europe, and the US fall under laws that heavily regulate accessibility. For many, the attitude has been "hey, so a few blind people can't see my site. No worries". Sadly, its much more complicated than this. The majority of disabled users are not totally blind and suffer from ailments that make surfing some sites and absolute nightmare. Recently in BC, two crown corporations have been threatened with legal action for not providing accessible sites.
So what other benefits are there to having an accessible web site that meets certain Web Standards for development?
- Cross Browser / Cross Platform compatibility - sites look fine in all browsers, on PC's, Mac's, Linux and other systems.
- Most accessible sites are coded so they can be ported to display on web enabled phones or Personal Digital Assistants (Palm Pilots, Blackberry's)
- Short Term Cost Savings - less development time.
- Long Term Cost Savings - lower bandwidth, faster simplified maintenance
- Rapid Site wide changes
- And a real BIG advantage - Tremendous Search Engine Optimization*
* Most people don't know that the worlds largest "blind user" is...... GOOGLE. The search engine google "see's" a web page exactly like a blind person. Sites that are accessible list higher on the search engines. MUCH HIGHER!
Eldoren Design is located in Dawson Creek, BC and is one of Canada's leading web site development companies specializing in ACCESSIBLE WEB SITES. If you have a project that you want to develop for tommorrow ( and not the past using older technology ) then consider contacting our company at 1-877-784-8383 or email gcurrie@eldoren.com. There will be a HUGE demand for "legal" sites in the coming months/years and now is the time to plan ahead.
More information on Web Content Accessibility Guidelines can be found at http://www.w3c.org/TR/WCAG20/
Another resource for testing site accessibility is WatchFire's Bobby Service ( http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/index.jsp )
If you need assistance or help in reviewing your website, we can help. Contact Gordon Currie, CEO of Eldoren Design at 1-877-784-8383
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Over the past 15 years, Gordon and his team of web developers and programmers have worked all over Canada and the United States. We truly believe in generating results for our clients and that means we travel to see clients on a regular basis.