The advantages of web accessibility:
1. Win-Win: users and companies win when implementing accessibility to a website. This demonstrate a commitment to customers with disabilities causing a positive PR and brand awareness.2. Website traffic: A site with optimized web accessibility is more likely to have a higher traffic because it can reach a wider audience.
3. Sales increase: people with disabilities will find easier to do shopping online. As a result, it is important to consider disable people when creating a website.
4. Framework: the W3C standards provides the best practices to create an accesible website. A webmaster is able to make sure that all bases are covered. It standardizes web maintenance.
5. Legal: Reduces legal liabilities.
Statistics:
according to Design-ecommerce in the UK- 8.6 million people are registered disabled - 14% of the population (source: DRC)
- 2 million people have a sight problem - 4% of the population (source: RNIB)
- 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women suffer from some form of colour blindness - 9% of the population (source: Institute of Electrical Engineers)
- 12 million people are aged 60 or over - 21% of the population (source: UK Government)
- 2 million people with learning difficulties - 4% of the population (source: Foundation for People with Learning Difficulties)
- 9 million people have impaired hearing from partial hearing to profound deafness - 15% of the population (source: The Royal National Institute for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People)
The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect. ~Tim Berners-Lee
