Web Accessibility - Part 1: Why?

Our commitment

At Takka we have recently made a commitment to ensure that accessibility is at the heart of what we do.  Web accessibility is about ensuring that the web can be accessed by people with a diverse range of abilities.  We want to build products that can be used and enjoyed by as many people as possible.  For us to succeed accessibility can't be an issue that's added on to the end of a project and we will, therefore, strive to embed accessibility into our thinking, policies, and processes.  We are currently learning, discussing, documenting and planning and we will be sharing our experience in a series of blogs, starting with - Why?

Why not?

Why create a website that is difficult and frustrating for some people to navigate?  Why make a web based application that only certain people in an office can use?  Why exclude people or put barriers in their way if it's possible not to? Also, by creating web products that are accessible by people with hearing, movement, sight and cognitive impairments you end up with products that are accessible to many other people too.

It's good business sense

Figures from the Papworth Trust put the number of disabled people in the UK at 11.9 million. The combined annual spending power of disabled customers could be in excess of £80 billion ($220 billion in the US). For the average business, disabled people may account for up to 20% of customers. The Papworth Trust found that disabled customers ‘spend a lot longer choosing where to buy than the average consumer, and tend to make more informed choices’. Inaccessible websites is one of the reasons disabled customers gave for switching to competitors.

To stay within the law

Although it's not the law that motivates us, it's important to be aware of the relevant laws and guidelines in the UK and other countries. Put in VERY simple terms, the UK Equality Act 2010 makes it is illegal to directly or indirectly discriminate on the grounds of disability in a number of situations, including in the provision of services. The Equality and Human Rights Commission website gives an example of indirect discrimination.  It relates to an employer that requires all job applicants to use a recruitment portal that can't be used with a screen reader.

There is also the international standard, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0. The standard is based on four principles of accessibility. It contains guidelines based on these principles and sets out success criteria which can be met at three levels - A, AA and AAA, level AAA being the highest. Services on GOV.UK are required to meet Level AA as a minimum. In the United States the Section 508 standards are currently being updated and are likely to align with Level AA of WCAG 2.0.

It's essential to consider accessibility beyond keeping within the law and ticking boxes. These things alone won't create a great experience for the users of a site or product. Accessibility needs to be considered at the start of, and throughout, a project. This is why it has to become part of processes and policies and thinking. Having made our commitment to accessibility we are looking forward to learning and embedding accessibility into our business.

Angela Kilmurray

12 Jan, 2017

Tags: accessibility why website development web development

putting people first