Accessibility Means Business

Irene Walker @1rene Confab 2012 Minneapolis

means accessibility

businesswell-designed content = results for everyone

noisy

fast-paced

competitive

global

So why cut off large groups of consumers

noisycompetitiveglobal

fast-paced

Blind folks won’t use my product.

Answer: ignorance

Hmm. Sounds expensive. And unnecessary.

It’ll take too long. Let’s look at it again in a year’s time.

Accessibly-designed content will:

make youmoremoney

saveyou moremoney

Accessibility universal

{It’s also quite beautiful too}

What accessibility means for business

new markets1.2.superior products

& services

3.building on relationships

4.reduced legal risk

5.increasedemployee

performance

We shipped IE 4.0 in September 1997. Two months later, we shipped a minor upgrade, primarily to deliver features that made IE easier to use for people

But that upgrade also contained, among other fixes, thesolutions for 6 of the top 10 customer complaintsfrom that brief interval between the two releases.

- Bill Gates, Business @ the Speed of Thought

with disabilities.

“

”

There is nothing that you can do on the iPhone or iPad that I can't do.

- Stevie Wonder

“

”

- Judith E. Heumann, Secretary of State, U.S. Department of Education

For people without disabilities, technology makes things convenient.For people with disabilities, technology makes things possible.

“

”

- Tim Berners-Lee

The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone, regardless of disability, is an essential aspect.

“”

It makes sense.

Standards-based design

Accessibility

What accessibility is all about

the usability of aproductservice

facility

Accessibility is…

environment

by people with the widest range of abilities

- The International Organisation for Standardisation

It means taking account of:

1.Individuals of different

agelanguagephysical ability mental ability level of literacy


2. Individuals who usedifferent software

internalapp-basedoffice systems


3. Individuals with different hardware

desktopshandheld deviceslaptopscross-network devicestelecoms equipment

Accessibility Responsive design&

Accessibility and responsive design

Accessibility is a solution

More than just technical accessibility or compliance.

Accessibility

People

What it means for users with disabilities

Pre-

inter

net Today

Motor-impaired couldn’t turn newspaper pages.

Screen readers read electronic text out loud.

Vision-impaired couldn’t read newspapers.

Assistive technologies adapt computer interfaces.

Deaf people can view captioned multimedia.

“My quality of life has changed dramatically.

Technology is the limb I never had.” – Joanne O’Riordan

Credit: itutelecomm

unication

“Without Microsoft, Adobe and Apple in my life I would not be doing and achieving my full potential. My life would be quite different to what it is now.” – Joanne O’Riordan

Credit: itutelecomm

unication

People with disabilities and their spending power

20%the largest minority group in

the United States

- Disability Funders Network

of the total population.

Globally, 1 billion people report having a disability


In the U.S., people with disabilities control aggregate annual income of

> $1 trillion.

more than double

In 2004, 2.3 million undergrad and grad students reported disabilities -


the 1.1 million reported in 1996.

baby boomer population


have at least one disabilityAmericans54 million

more veterans returning from war+= double this number, in 20 years’ time

48%Baby Boomers account for

- Chris Orestis,The Silver Tsunami White Paper

of all U.S. families, plus

> $2 trillion.spending power of

have highly deficient literacy skillsof U.S. adults

21 %– 23%

25 %– 28%another have very limited

literacy skills

- National Adult Literacy Survey, (via Angela Colter in Contents, Issue No. 2)

- Jupiter Research

75% of online shoppers who experience

sites that freeze,sites that crash,slow sites, anda convoluted checkout process

would no longer buy from these sites

€297 billion

impaired + elderly =

- RNIB

combined spending power of

And over in the UK,

- EFD Survey

83% of disabled people “walk away”

from purchases because they feel unwelcome, or the productor service offering is inaccessible.

Tesco implemented a fully accessible version of their online grocery store. It cost £35,000 to develop and generates estimated annual revenue of £1.61m

- Business Taskforce on Accessible Technology

What the law says

Section 508:

federal departments and agencies

including web designers producing work for them}{

government-fundedprojects

including any states that choose to adopt it }{

“equal or equivalent access to everyone”

WCAG:developed by the W3Cbasis of most web accessibility laws

Version 2.0, based on POUR

set of international guidelines

Available to the senses

Users can interact with all controls

Content is clear and unambiguous

erceivablePOUR

perable

nderstandable

obust Wide range of technologies

Source: quicklycode

21st Century Communications

and Video Accessibility Act:

Smartphones to be accessible in general

Solutions must be free or of “normal cost”

U.S. smartphones to have accessible web browsers by 2013

Where others went wrong

2000Sydney Olympic Games Organizing Committee doesn’t provide braille

alternatives for ticketing or souvenir programs. 2009

Arizona State University encourages students to use electronic textbooks that are not accessible.2011

Walt Disney Company fails to accommodate the needs of vision-

impaired customers across its websites and within its theme

parks.

Where others got it right

We have evidence that online shoppers with Sainsbury’s also shop in-store. If the online experience is inaccessible or disappointing, shoppers are very likely to move to a competitor – as will the in-store spend.

- Hamish Elvidge, Director at Sainsbury’s

“

”

At Barclays, we believe that our commitment to diversity and inclusion, backed up by a philosophy of accessibility, it not just a social and legal responsibility, but will be fundamental to the performance and competitiveness of our business in years to come.

- John Varley, previous Barclays CEO

“

We believe, from our own experience, that those organisations that signal their commitment to diversity and inclusion, particularly through technology, are reaping increasing commercial benefits.

They recognise that investing in accessible and usable technology products and services, workplace environments and facilities opens up new markets, increases productivity and liberates talent, and enables the provision of innovative accessible technologies based on an understanding of individuals’ technological aspirations.

- John Varley, previous Barclays CEO

“

”

Its internet customers grew

1998:Banco Bradesco becomes 1st bank in the world to offer online banking for people with visual disabilities

by 12 percenteach month.

From the beginning, we said that all our actions would be aimed at connecting everyone to the power of technology.

HP has made a public commitment to provide leadership in designing accessible products and services for people with disabilities.

- Hewlett-Packard

“

”

How accessibility increases findability

context loyalty

An accessible website gets foundmore oftenwith increased regularity

by users who get

exactlythe information they are looking to find via Search

But wait, there’s more.Accessibility really does mean business.

Accessibility means business

Increased usability

Increased findability

Less development time

Direct cost savings

Wider clientele

Optimised mobile content

Whose job it is

IA? IxD? CS?Devs?

(sorry)

PM?

…it’s everyone’s job.(you saw that coming, didn’t you?)

CS & A11y, sitting in a tree

The longest journey begins with the shortest alt text.

- Jeffrey Zeldman

“”

assessing user goals

briefingwriters

testingusability

changemanagement

communitymanagement

How not to listen to your users… and lose business

1.

2.

3.

Accessible content tools

Qualitative content audit

Style guide

Keep your writing short and scannable

Start strong

Be inclusive

Write in the active voice

Avoid abbreviations wherever possible

Use contractions sparingly

Link text must make sense out of context

Ensure all images have appropriate alt text

Use thoughtful microcopy

Style guide

Writing checklist

How to spread the love

drive it from1.2.appoint an

A11y champion

3.workshop withdecision-makers

4.collate andshare

5.let them see how they

square up

the top down

If all else fails…

Remember. This is why.

Beautiful, meaty, lengthy, clear, accessible: these can all exist, side by side.

It’s up to us – people who live and breathe content, whose literacy levels are high and whose understanding of content is nuanced enough to know when to use what - to simply be thoughtful enough to make it so.

- Sara Wachter-Boettcher

“

in a comment on Angela Colter’s Contents article, ‘The Audience you didn’t know you had’

”

Let a11y be your ally

Accessibility helps businesses reach their objectives

helps users reach their goals

Thank you.Irene Walker @1rene Confab 2012 Minneapolis

Recommended resources

• Developing a web accessibility business case for your organization http://www.w3.org/WAI/bcase/

• Yahoo! Accessibility Library http://yaccessibilityblog.com/library/

• Web accessibility - a holistic business perspective, Ph.Ddissertation by Marie-Luise Leitner, Universität Wien http://othes.univie.ac.at/7773/1/2009-11-30_9806366.pdf

• One Voice for Accessible ICT www.onevoiceict.org

• Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance, Jim Thatcher et al. (Friends of Ed, 2006)

Accessibility Means Business

Design