Accessibility's Importance

An accessible site is good business — You broaden your site's audience by accommodating more people, in more situations.

Improved Accessibility = Improved Site

When improving accessibility, you examine how your site is constructed, both site-wide and each page. Often, a more accessible site results in:

• A more informative site - Key information is highlighted and easier to find.
• Better usability - Site visitors find the site easy to use, which results in higher satisfaction and greater site loyalty.
• Faster downloads - The quicker a site loads, the less likely users are to leave your site.

Reaching an older audience

As the population ages, the portion that utilize assistive technologies will increase. Currently, 15%–30% of web users have some limitation. Also, 25% of on-line purchases are made by people between 50–64 years old. An accessible site is a welcome mat to older online shoppers.

Reaching a mobile audience

Internet-ready PDA's, Internet-enabled cell phones, and similar devices are on the market, but have limited bandwidth, screen display, and input options. These limitations reduce the number of sites they can access. Meeting these needs now — while the technology is new — puts you ahead of your competitors in reaching this market.

Reaching an international audience

Though North American is on the cutting edge of web technology, the rest of the world is not. If you deal with Africa or Eastern Europe, your customers may not have the latest version of Windows and Internet Explorer. If your site requires the latest technology to work, your target audience may not be able to access it.