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Legal Issues | Business
Issues
There are 2 million people in the UK who are blind and
partially sighted. (Royal National Institute For The Blind). In
The United States there are estimated to be 6 million disabled
people. Given the number of disabled users this is a largely
untapped revenue source.
As technologies become pervasive and less expensive more people
are able to gain access to the Internet and online
shopping/transactions will become more important. Being able to do
this from the comfort of their home environments is especially
useful to the disabled users. Those companies with accessible
websites will benefit from increased customer patronage.
Companies who provide for their disabled users will benefit
from a more positive brand perception.
Disabilities tend to increase with age, for example, serious
sight loss is an age-related disability with two-thirds of
sight-impaired people being over 60. As these "Silver
Surfers" (those around retirement age with time and
disposable income) are one of the fastest growing user groups of
the Internet it makes good business sense to provide facilities
for them to transact online. Already 20% of people aged 50 and
over use online shopping sites (Age Concern England, 2000).
"Accessibility is a competitive advantage," says Election.com
CEO Joe Mohen. "It's an economic opportunity to broaden our
mission and differentiate ourselves, and it's solid, logical
business that improves the value of our service. It's a good thing
to do from a Wall Street perspective."
According to Karen
Solomon of Wired magazine the more conservative estimate
states that there are up to 6 million disabled Internet users in
the United States alone, according to statistics from the NUA
Internet Surveys.
Obviously conforming to all 66 accessibility guidelines is a
huge undertaking for any business, which is why the WAI have
included priority ratings. That said the guidelines could still be
ambiguous and difficult to interpret. Even then there is still the
issue of making appropriate recommendation to rectify the
problems. This is where expert advice is invaluable. The Usability
Company works closely with the Royal National Institute of
the Blind (RNIB) and are able to steer businesses through the
RNIB's proprietary "See It Right" accessibility
conformance program or indeed through gaining conformance to Bobby
or WAI guideline.
Legal Issues | Business Issues
Next Month, Part Three: Technical Issues
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