Making websites accessible to comply with law

If you already have a website or are about to get a website you should be asking yourself the question is it accessible or is it going to be accessible. If not then you will be breaking the law and subject to whatever fine or prosecution that may be levied against you.

Think of your website as a new building being built for purposes of people visiting to get information or to buy something. The law states you must provide for wheelchair access to these buildings as well as many other stipulations - well - your website is no different.

Getting your head around the whole concept.

To this day when we are running presentations to groups of people about websites and the options for their businesses through the web, it still amazes us when we see the look on some faces in the crowd when we tell them that blind people use the internet. A blank look appears and you can see their mind working asking why would a blind person use the internet - they can't see.

Once it is explained that in many ways the internet and websites are a great place for blind people to get information or make purchases, and how they have special browsers that read the information back, then the crowd soon realises the importance of the internet to this group of individuals.

Is it just blind people we need to design for ?

NO - Most definately not. There are many disabilities that people face and your website must cater for them all. There are people who have movement issues, and something as simple as having links too close together can cause problems when they may struggle to move a mouse.

There are people who perhaps suffer from other visual difficulties and something as simple as double justifying text can create too much white space between words and as such cause difficulties.

Then there are people with colour blindness who may struggle depending on the colour scheme.

The rules are all there for web developers to follow. When discussing your website development with your designers at least ask the question about accessibility. It does not necessarily mean that additional cost will be incurred or that design has to be compromised.

With a bit of flair and imagination websites can be accessible and great looking. The misconception that websites have to be text only in order to be accessible is fortunately diminishing.

Contact us to find out more ?

Call us on 0141 332 7144 or alternatively contact us through our online contact form