5 Reasons Webmasters Don’t Worry About Accessibility
Not to be confused with ‘Usability’, accessibility is all about giving equal access to everyone. It has become a bit of a buzz-word recently, in all areas of society. In the U.K. for example, there are now Laws in place that demand certain design specifications for all new buildings, i.e.
- Doorways must have a clear opening width 800mm
- Corridors must have a clear width 1.2m
- Door handles must be 1m from the ground
- Light switches are to be placed at 1.3m from the ground
- Power sockets must be between a height of 350-500mm
All this for a minority of the population. Seems like an awful lot of fuss, but many reasons have made it vital.
In a similar way, we must now remember that the Internet is no longer a place just for nerds and geeks. Grandma now has a Hotmail account, and it’s critical therefore, that everyone is catered for.
However, if most were honest, accessibility is still something that lies in a dark drawer of our minds. As long as it works for the majority, then we’re happy. Let’s be realistic too; it’s almost impossible to predict, or figure out how a site will display in every possible browser, in every possible screen size and resolution, and how each mind expects something to work. In fact, why is it that web designers get all the blame when a site isn’t accessible in all browsers? Shouldn’t those behind Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, etc, all be forced into strict standards so that they all display the same?
That said, we should still be making more of an effort, but why don’t we?
1. Few Are Leading The Way
A lot of what we do comes down to peer pressure, and in the area of accessibility, there really isn’t all that much. If there was more pressure to conform, it stands to reason that more would make the effort, or spend more money in bringing their sites up-to-scratch.
2. There Are No Complaints
If you’re not aware of a problem, it’s going to make it pretty difficult to rectify. Like I said, it’s nigh impossible to predict how something will work or display in every possible scenario, so we rely heavily sometimes on feedback. If there are no complaints, nothing is changed.
3. Our Tests Are Not Thorough
Making sure a site displays correctly in certain browsers and resolutions, is not where accessibility begins and ends. Do we make sure that the language is easy to understand? Do the anchor texts to hyperlinks make sense? Do all images have appropriate ALT tags?
I am as guilty as anyone, but by right, these things should be checked.
4. It’s No Fun
If it looks fine, and works well for the majority, there’s no fun in spending more time and money to work on something that, for the most part, no one will notice. Or, you don’t want to be restricted to using actual words. You’d rather write like you talk on the street. Having to worry about how it’ll be interpreted by programs the disabled are using, is just a nuisance.
5. There’s No (Immediate) Benefit
Just because someone takes the time to make their site more accessible, doesn’t mean they’re going to reap heaps of benefits. True, search engines will probably find it easier to index a more accessible site, but that doesn’t guarantee the number one spot, or even the first page. If it’s going to cost someone more money to make their site accessible, they will be more likely to place that money into buying links, and other forms of advertising.
Conclusion
There are numerous articles and websites addressing different aspects of accessibilty. However, there is a real lack of good material telling us how to make our sites more accessible. It would be nice to see more mainstream, and popular websites leading the way, placing pressure on everyone else to conform. If that doesn’t happen, it’s going to be a long, slow process before the Internet becomes truly accessible to everyone.
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Comments
4 Responses to “5 Reasons Webmasters Don’t Worry About Accessibility”
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My biggest accessibility peeve? Small text.
For the short-sighted it’s important to use a legible type-size. Even for those of us with good eye sight, I prefer to read large text than small.
Off topic, have you checked out FeedBurner’s feed flares? They’re a great way to add some nice usability features to your articles in feed readers, such as ‘add a comment’, ‘digg this’, ’stumble this’ etc.
I read this article in my feed reader and when I got to the bottom I wanted to comment, but then had to scroll back to the top to click-through here.
Honestly this is a topic and post that hits it home. I have been developing for accessibility and it is a tough nut to crack. My biggest complaint about todays web page/site designers is how they promote the illusion that people don’t visit websites for relative information, they want to be entertained.
Thanks Armen
David - Yeah, a pet hate of mine too. I can’t believe some of the font sizes some people use on their sites. People who should know better too sometimes.
Thanks for the advice as well. I’ve implemented your suggestion
JP - It’s not easy, but then very little that is worthwhile is I suppose.
As much as people may try to convince themselves into thinking Web eye-candy will attract visitors, I think the majority should know by now, it’s information everyone is really after. Having said that, I do try and put both together.
I took a look at the site you’ve linked to. It’s clean, and it validates, but I’d lose the GIF Canadian flag. May I also ask why the content text has a hover effect? I’ve never seen anyone do that before.
All of your points are right on the money bro. Thanks for sharing!