Getting the most from accessibility

There’s a lot more to having an accessible Web site than avoiding a law suit. While some people fear the raised stick of the Disability Discrimination Act, smart business owners understand that the carrots on offer are worth chasing.

As well as demonstrating social responsibility, reducing legal liability, and tapping into the estimated £80 billion spending power of UK disabled people (source: DWP), what else can an accessible Web site achieve for you?

Lower web costs

Because accessible Web sites successfully implement the principle of separating online content, presentation and behaviour, Web development and maintenance costs are driven down by faster production times. Redesigning can, in some cases, simply involve changing a CSS file. The streamlined approach offered by well-structured HTML that is free of presentational markup, plus CSS and scripting can also lower bandwidth costs by reducing calls on your Web server.

Dial-up friendly

According to the Office for National Statistics roughly 25% of Internet connections are still made via dial-up (source: ONS). The 2005 e-commerce Survey of Business found that 14% of businesses use a connection speed of less than 144kbps (source: ONS). Those of us enjoying the broadband revolution should recall our frustration with sites that took minutes to load via a dial-up modem: when our impatience got the better of us, we would go elsewhere. That’s still the experience of many Web users. The lighter files of accessible sites lower loading times so that users on slower connections can see your site in a reasonable time.

Stay mobile

The mobile Web is a growing market. Users of the mobile Web (with PDAs and smartphones) are increasing in number each year. 80% of UK households have a mobile phone (source: ONS) and around 20% of mobile users can access the Internet on their phones (source: Citizens Online). 24% of businesses use, or provide to their employees, a mobile connection to the Internet (source: ONS). Designing specifically for the mobile Web can be daunting, given the variety of screen sizes, devices, user agents and operating platforms. Web pages built with accessibility in mind fare relatively well in this area. Well-structured documents that make logical sense will be still be navigable and usable, even when the visual richness afforded by a computer screen is missing.

Progressive enhancement; or, horses for courses

Another important principle of Web standards is progressive enhancement. The simple HTML that marks up an accessible, well-structured Web page can be understood by even the least capable Web devices. This is then progressively enhanced with externally linked presentation styles (CSS) and scripted functionality, which may be interpreted only by more advanced Web devices. Such a strategy allows Web browsers to employ only the technologies they understand and not waste resources. Your content will always be the same and will be usable, even though its look may have changed on less capable browsers.

Functionality can also be informed by the progressive enhancement principle. For example, conventional, server-side technology can power online forms, refreshing whole pages as a visitor uses them. Where it is supported, JavaScript can be then be used to intercept the default behaviour to provide instant feedback to the user. Seeing as 5% of users do not have JavaScript (source: thecounter.com), and it’s likely that more are unable to use it because they are behind corporate firewalls, such an approach allows the widest range of people to use your site.

Improved usability

Accessibility and usability are by no means mutually exclusive. What makes a site more accessible makes it more usable too. Clear navigation and richer content benefit all users. Visitors often come to a site with a particular task in mind, be it finding information or buying your widgets. By making those tasks accessible, the easier it is for everyone to use your site. And the better their experience of visiting a Web site, the more likely a user is to become both a customer and an advocate.

Higher search engine position

Everyone wants good search results. Users want relevant links, site owners want to appear high in the list for particular terms. Accessible Web sites are more effectively indexed by search engines: their well-structured and semantically rich content allows search engines to appropriately weight the significance of content; not relying on JavaScript for functionality means search engines can index entire sites with ease; the alternative text supplied for images can be added to the relevance of search results. Accessible Web pages make a high ranking a much more likely prospect.

Access good for business

In March 2006, at the launch of PAS78 Guide to Good Practice in Commissioning Accessible Websites, Legal and General revealed the effects of redesigning its Web site to be more accessible. These included:

• 30% increase in ‘natural’ search-engine traffic and “significant improvementâ€? in Google rankings “for all target keywordsâ€?
• 75% reduction in time for page to load
• browser compatibility (no complaints since redesigning) and accessible to mobile devices
• time to manage content “reduced from average of five days to half a day per jobâ€?, with savings of £200K annually on site maintenance
• 95% increase in visitors getting a life insurance quote and 90% increase in life insurance sales online
• 100% return on investment in less than 12 months

Accessibility deserves to be taken seriously as part of your overall Web strategy. When incorporated into your site, either from scratch or during a redevelopment phase, accessibility can have a significant positive impact on its performance, the experience of all users, and your revenue.