Accessible Web Design Is Good Business July 31, 2003

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Accessible Web Design Is Good BusinessJuly 31,
2003

• University College
• Northeastern University
• Boston Massachusetts

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Agenda

• Defining the Issues
• Accessible Web Design Is Good Business
• Solutions Short-Term and Long-Term
• Award to Wells Fargo and Company
• Questions and Answers
• Current Assistive Technology--Optional Snell
  Library Tour

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Accessible Web Design Issues

• Legal requirements
• Policies and standards
• Accessibility vs. usability
• Barriers to accessible design

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Web Developments

• Sound and color graphics
• Animation
• Database integration
• Portable devices

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The Web Is Not the Same for Everyone

• Shopper with color blindness
• Individual with age-related conditions who wants
  to manage personal finances
• Consumer with Deafness
• Potential customer with dyslexia
• Teenager with deaf-blindness seeking
  entertainment

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Accessibility

• Users can be constrained by functional
  limitations like physical and learning
  disabilities or by situational limitations such
  as old browsers or the tiny screens on portable
  devices.
• A web site is accessible if it can be used in a
  variety of ways that do not depend on a single
  sense, ability, or technology.

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Functional Accessibility

• Visual--blind or low vision
• Auditory--Deaf or hard of hearing
• Physical--limited or no use of the hands
• Cognitive--language and learning disabilities

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Situational Accessibility

• Prevailing circumstances, environment, or device
  can affect everybody, not just people with
  disabilities
• Examples of situational accessibility include
  mobile devices and device limitations such as
  having no mouse

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Impact of Accessible Web Siteson the Individual
and Business

• Makes shopping online for goods and services
  convenient and easy for all
• Provides access to services, products, and
  information that might otherwise not be available
  

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Size of Disabled Population

• 54 million in the United States
• Worldwide, there are more than 750 million
  people with disabilities. As we move towards a
  highly connected world, it is critical that the
  web be usable by anyone, regardless of individual
  capabilities and disabilities.
• Tim Berners-Lee

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What Is Your Role?

• Make web services and goods available to the
  largest population possible regardless of
  functional or situational disability
• Avoid writing off customers/clients or giving
  away business to accessible sites

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Accessible Web Design Is Good Business

• As the baby boomer generation experiences
  age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, and
  glaucoma, they will become more dependent upon
  the web
• As mobile devices become even more common and
  sophisticated, accessible web sites will flourish

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A Large Market Today

• 14,000,000 Americans (about one out of every
  twenty) have severe vision conditions not
  correctable by glasses
• 2,800,000 visually impaired by color blindness
• 1,100,000 legally blind
• whyfiles.org citing Research to Prevent
  Blindness, Inc.

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A Larger Market Tomorrow

• By 2010, 20 million baby boomers will have a
  visual impairment even when wearing glasses or
  contacts (lighthouse.org)
• By 2025, age-related macular degeneration could
  be blinding 900,000 to 3 million Americans
  (whyfiles.org)
• By the year 2030, twice as many people will be
  blind as today

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Millions of people 65 with Vision Impairment
Source Population Projections Program,
Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau, January
13, 2000
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Millions of people 65
Source Population Projections Program,
Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau, January
13, 2000
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Spending Power

• Consumers with disabilities control more than
  175 billion in discretionary income.
• Currently, 45-64 year olds have the greatest
  number of credit cards and the highest usage
  (cyberatlas.com)
• All consumers are more likely to patronize
  business where they feel welcome

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National Median Net Worth of Families Headed by
Persons Aged 62 - 74
Source Federal Reserve Board, Survey of Consumer
Finances, 1989 - 2001
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Web Usage

• 47 percent of online population is over 40
  (agentmedia.com)
• 45 - 64 year olds surf the Internet more
  frequently, stay there longer and check out more
  Web pages than even their college age
  counterparts (cyberatlas.internet.com)
• The number of baby boomers and seniors online
  grew by 18.4 in one year, making them the
  fastest growing Internet population
  (cyberatlas.internet.com)

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Opportunity Summary

• Huge market
• Significant spending power
• Heavy online usage

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Next Steps to Help Your Organization

• Learn the legal requirements and the barriers
• Know current policies and standards and
  accessibility vs. usability
• Understand current assistive technology

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The Most Important Step

• Become acquainted with the disabled
• community

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Two Simple Short-term Solutions

• Create effective tab/keyboard navigation for the
  visually impaired and for people using PDAs and
  other appliances without a mouse
• Help screen readers work more effectively
• Use Alt text
• Design accessible tables (see http//www.webaim.or
  g/howto/tables2)

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Long-term Solutions

• Change attitudes about accessible web design
• Acquire an interdisciplinary approach and rethink
  communication on the web

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Northeastern University and Accessible Web Design

• Graduate certificate program that provides the
  interdisciplinary training needed to master these
  complex issues
• Annual award for an outstanding accessible web
  site

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• Northeastern University
• University College
• First Annual Award
• for
• Outstanding Accessible Web Design
• Presented to
• Wells Fargo and Company
• July 31, 2003

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Accessible Web Design Is Good BusinessJuly 31,
2003

• University College
• Northeastern University
• Boston Massachusetts