Accessibility, Usability and Web Design

The Law.

In the USA, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires that Federal departments and agencies make reasonable efforts to provide information via systems that are equally accessible to the disabled and, if they cannot do so, it requires that they provide individuals with disabilities with an alternative means for equivalent access to the information and data that those information systems provide.

If you want to do business with any of these departments and agencies, then you will likely find that you too need to comply with these requirements.

In the UK, under provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act websites have had a legal obligation to be accessible since 1999. The DDA makes it unlawful to discriminate against disabled people in the way in which you recruit and employ people, provide services, or provide education. Discrimination can take place in two ways - by treating a disabled person less favourably; and/or by failing to make "reasonable adjustments" so that disabled people can participate in employment and education or make use of a service. The RNIB publishes a good introductory guide to web accessibility.

The Business Case

Accessibility is not just about blind people. Of the UK population of 60,000,000 some 8,500,000 people have some form of disability and the RNIB estimate that a further 2,000,000 have some sort of sight problem. Further, this figure does not include other groups with colour blindness, epilepsy, mobility problems, dyslexia and low literacy. U.S. Department of Education's National Adult Literacy Survey 48% of the U.S. population has low literacy

Accessibility and usability go hand in hand, if you improve the accessibility of your site you will also improve usability, which will in turn impact on the duration of visits to your site and the percentage of users who come back.

Some of these issues are ones which affect individuals as they age, so it will include some of the most senior decision makers in business. If you have invested time discussing a sale, it will be a shame if the senior manager who has to authorise the transaction can’t read the small and unresizable font you have selected for your web site. It is worth noting though, Jakob Nielsen (the leading authority on web usability) points out “When using websites, teenagers have a lower success rate than adults and they're also easily bored. To work for teens, websites must be simple -- but not childish -- and supply plenty of interactive features…. teenagers don't like tiny font sizes any more than adults do”

We are then discussing a range of issues which, in one way or another affect very large numbers of web users. They are not people who fit neatly into one tidy category which can safely be ignored. Site owners often hear from web designers and developers of the importance of expending considerable time and effort configuring sites so that they are rendered correctly across a range of different browsers, but there is little point in make them function in the browser if people are still unable to access and use them effectively.

Cost

It can be time consuming to alter existing pages to make them accessible. This may mean that considerable cost attaches to the process. However, if accessibility and usability are integrated into the initial design, or redesign, of a site then the additional cost will in most cases be very small indeed.

The fundamental change is to build web pages which comply with the common standards of the medium and which are rigorously tested for compliance. An important side effect of a standards based approach is that provides significant additional benefits during the life of the site by contributing to a reduction in maintenance costs – it is very much easier to trace and eliminate any problems which may arise arise if the underlying HTML is standards compliant. The Process of Accessible, Usable Design

The first step in the process of upgrading a site is to move to standards compliance:

• HTML which complies with the W3C standards. • Pages which conform with Web Accessibility Initiative standards

• The structuring and ordering of content are critical factors affecting the accessibility and usability. However, modern web design uses CSS, a technique which separates the visual appearance and layout from the content. This means that when the time comes for a visual makeover, it can be achieved without rebuilding the entire site.

A part of the process will also be putting in place things like site maps which provide a quick means for users to find their way around and a review of things like user paths – the routes people take from page to page – for example, attempting to minimise the effort customers have to expend before they can send you money!

Limitations on Design Techniques

An accessible site need look no different to an inaccessible one. Generally, it is not necessary to create a separate text only version of a site. There is no reason for an accessible, usable site to be dull or drab. Search Engine Marketing

Search engine spiders parse raw text, and there is no reason why an accessible, usable version of a page need differ from an inaccessible, unusable version. The text itself need not change by a single character. However, some of the techniques which can be used in new page design can also make a significant contribution to enhancing search engine.

Summary

Including accessibility and usability criteria as a part of the development process of a web site will result in an improved experience for all users. It will result in a web site which will support the wide range of browsers better, and which will be easier to maintain. Any cost will be modest and will be offset by increases in the overall effectiveness of the site in delivering your information and converting buyers.

Further Resources