What Accessibility Is

Accessible means that all web-enabled technologies can properly access your site. A few years ago, only web browsers like Internet Explorer used the web. Today, numerous technologies use the web:

• Web-ready cell phones,
• PDAs,
• Screen readers for the visually impaired,
• Search engines that remember your site's text,
• and more.

What stands in their way?

HTML is a structured language. It was created to organize text into categories of information, and applied some formatting as a result. However, as the Web moved from an informational to a visual medium, inexperienced developers used tags for formatting instead of organization. Soon, the proper use of HTML tags was replaced by the drive for better looking websites.

But new web-related technologies assume that web pages use HTML properly. So, things like assistive technologies, search engines, and web-enabled devices can only access your site if it follows HTML's structure.

Accessible HTML overcomes limitations

To be accessible, HTML code needs to be used the way it was originally intended, and the way that web-related technologies expect. Proper HTML eliminates the limitations that many web users face:

• Technical limitations - Older browsers, text-only browsers, out-of-date plug-ins
• Physical disabilities - Visual impairment or limited use of hands
• Device limitations - Web-enabled cell phone or hand-held devices

But most sites are built to work with only the latest and most common browsers. This assumption can prevent a number of users from being able to access your site.

EffectiveSite can re-shape your website's HTML code to make it accessible, allowing a greater audience to use your site.