Web Accessibility: Coding for Social Responsibility (and Profit)

The term "Web accessible" is mostly used to describe how easy or difficult a site is for a disabled person to navigate. A more accessible site might support such things as closed-captioned video content, language options or user-assistive audio software. But while developers are exploring how to bring the Web to a more diverse population, they're also using accessibility practices to make sites more searchable, flexible and easily viewable on mobile devices.

"First," says Katherine White, nFusion interactive development manager "accessibility means that disabled (and some impaired elderly people) can benefit from and contribute to the Web — a forum that has become more and more a part of social life." At its core Web accessibility helps include people who would otherwise be excluded.

Using accessibility standards offers other benefits, too. More accessible coding increases searchability because it includes search-engine-"spiderable" text when its associated content might not otherwise have to. That means a more accessible site featuring video content (not scanable) — say, of a presentation — might also include a (spiderable) transcript of the speech to make it more accessible. This text, which an audio browser could read, would help the site to rank higher on Google or Yahoo!

Developing an accessible site also means that content is more likely to be viewable on a multitude of browsers, including those on mobile devices. As White notes, "a lot of people just can't see a site — especially if it's got a lot of audio-visual content — if they're looking at it on a PDA." When a site meets certain accessibility standards, the code composing the pages is flexible and can tell the browser how to present content properly. And it's only when content is visible that users can see what is being offered. "For example," says White, "the new Web-accessible Wilshire Homes site works great for people who are driving around with their cell phones looking for a house to buy. If they're in a community they like, they can just read about it in the car on their cell phones."

Developing accessible sites is smart for anyone who is interested in reaching more people. When including users who have different ways of getting online, websites gain viewers or potential customers. And that could mean — depending on the purpose of the site — more profit.