A Business Case For Accessible Website Design

Faheem Razak

More enlightened businesses recognise that accessibility is a huge commercial ROI opportunity rather than a regulatory straightjacket. Disability comes in all kinds of shapes and forms. The market in the UK alone is worth billions of pounds per year.

There are 8.6 million registered disabled people in the UK which amounts to 14% of the population. (Disability Rights Commission)

There are 1.6 million registered blind users. (Employers' Forum on Disability)

Two million UK residents have a sight problem. (RNIB)

One in 12 men and one in 200 women have some form of colour blindness - 9% of the UK population (IEE)

3.4 million people have disabilities preventing them from using the standard keyboard, screen and mouse set-up with ease. (Employers' Forum on Disability)

There are 12 million people aged 60 or over. (UK government)

UK population is also becoming older which means businesses will increasingly need to tap into an older - and often affluent - demographic.

Online businesses are potentially losing out on some £50-£60bn per year buying power. (Employers' Forum on Disability)

Accessible websites are search engine friendly meaning better search engine rankings.

Accessible websites are smaller in file size which means that pages are served faster. Users/customers can find what they want more quickly.

Accessible websites are more readily adaptable for handheld and other devices.

About the author:

Faheem Razak is the CEO of 1075 Web Design Agency based in London specialising in accessible standards compliant website design.

Have your website tested for usability issues, register for a free w ebsite usability review.

Web Development News


Yahoo! News Search Results for web development m-Wise Launches New Web and Mobile Microsite Development Kit for Mobile Conte... Mobile content technology vendor, m-Wise (OTC.BB: MWIS) announces the commercial launch of its new web and mobile microsite development kit. Web Development Services - the New Buzzword of the BPO Industry (PIZZAHEROS) Web development services, as the name suggests, refers to the services provided to organizations who wish to outsource business processes for the development of the IT services. There are a number of companies, which are ready to provide fast and efficient business process management. Job vacancy: Web Applications Developer (.NET) (PublicTechnology.net) A talented Web Application Developer is required for projects that involve development using the latest web 2.0 technologies. You will be responsible for designing and developing several key online systems. Web innovator Wendy Hall becomes a Dame (Macworld UK) Professor Wendy Hall , an innovator in the early forms of the world wide web, has been awarded the title of Dame in the New Year's Honours list for her services to science and technology. Sun Acquires Belgian Cloud-Management Firm (NewsFactor via Yahoo! News) Sun Microsystems announced Wednesday it has acquired Q-layer, a cloud-computing company that automates the deployment and management of both public and private clouds. Cloud computing brings computer and data resources onto the Web for higher efficiency, massive scalability, and faster and easier so... Expo: ModelBaker rapid app development software debuts (Macworld UK) Widget Press on Monday announced ModelBaker 1.0, a new rapid application development tool for Mac OS X. ModelBaker helps users create applications for the Web, iPhone, iPod touch and Google Android devices. Smoking During Pregnancy Fosters Aggression In Children - Published In Develo... Women who smoke during pregnancy risk delivering aggressive kids according to a new Canada-Netherlands study published in the journal Development and Psychopathology. While previous studies have shown that smoking during gestation causes low birth weight, this research shows mothers who light up dur... 2008 Web Celebrity Rankings Announced by iStardom (Centre Daily Times) iStardom Inc. announced the 2008 year-end web celebrity rankings for the Entertainment, Model, and Expert categories. A web celebrity is an individual whose fame is primarily derived from their Internet presence. iStardom rankings are based on over 45 weighted attributes from many social networking... ModelBaker 1.0 handles iPhone, Android web apps (MacNN) Widget Press has posted the first version of ModelBaker, a development tool for Macs. The software is specifically designed to create web applications, and in addition to apps built for desktops and notebooks, can be used to produce mobile sites for iPhones, iPod touches and Android-based cellphones... Intnl Conference on Web Intelligent Systems begins tomorrow (New Kerala) Chennai, Jan 7 : City-based Rajalakshmi Engineering College (REC) will organise an International Conference on Web Intelligent Systems (ICWIS '09) from tomorrow to provide a forum for researchers to showcase their cutting edge technology and innovations.