Web Accessibility is often overlooked, so are the profits that come with it

Web accessibility refers to the practice of making websites usable by anyone with an Internet connection, irrelevant of any personal of financial disabilities. When web pages are coded by a front-end developer who conforms to the Web Accessibility Initiative Web Content Accessibility Guidleines, more of your website users will have equal access to both information and functionality.

Why is Accessibility important?

Apart from the glaring fact that Web Accessibility is fast becoming law all across the developed world (Check this Google search), inaccessible websites are missing out on a huge share of revenue that is spent online by users who find it harder to travel to the high street to spend their money

A recent report from AbilityNet suggests that there are around 12.5 million people in the UK (not including elderly ‘silver surfers’ with failing eyesight or arthritis) with an estimated spending power in excess of £120 billion a year.

The report also suggests that less-abled web surfers use the internet for exactly the same things as users without disabilities—for information, shopping, banking and leisure. But of course, the less-abled users bookmark and reuse websites that they can use with ease, and choose to disregard inaccessible websites.

There are even rumours floating around the web that Google punishes inaccessible websites in their search results. Their business model is to provide the most relevant results, but if the page is not accessible to the end user then they would be failing their users.

The right thing to do

Wherever the arguments for or against accessiblility may end, it is in your best interest to go down the accessible route. For moral, legislative and commercial purposes. It's not that hard to implement, so why not? I can assure you that if you do not, one of your competitors will.