Sandy Butler’s article “An Idiot’s Guide To Accessible Website Design” in Web Design Ledger is a great overview of the benefits and necessity of accessible web design.
One important statistic she offers is how, “According to a report by the Danish Center for Accessibility, as many as 25% of the world’s Internet users have some sort of visual, auditory or mobility disability. Fail to take into the consideration the needs of these people and you are depriving your client the opportunity to connect with a huge audience.” So it’s not simply a concern about complying with Section 508 or Section 504 requirements, it’s simply a matter of reaching 1/4 of your possible audience and also improving your SEO!
Most importantly, she give detailed examples of some great tools and resources to help you analyze your websites to ensure you’re reaching the widest possible audience. These tools include:
- Wave — a site that shows the original web page with embedded icons and indicators that reveal the accessibility of that page
- Color Oracle — a cross-platform color blindness simulator
- Document Readability to analyze the writing on your site
A must-read article and, if you have the time, check out some of the related articles listed at the bottom such as “The Four Key Components of a Great Web Design” and “Most Used and Abused Web Design Trends of All Time”.
This edited post was first published on the MIT WebPub blog on December 11, 2009.