Web Accessibility FAQ's

Web Accessibility is a Social Issue

Use of the Web is spreading rapidly into most areas of society and daily life. In many countries the Web is increasingly used for government information and services, education and training, commerce, news, workplace interaction, civic participation, health care, recreation, entertainment, and more. In some cases, the Web is replacing traditional resources.

• Essential for Equal Opportunity
• Removes Barriers to Web Use
• Overlap with Digital Divide Issues
• Role of Organizations' Web Sites
• Corporate Social Responsibility

Web Accessibility is Essential for Equal Opportunity

The Web is an important medium for receiving information as well as providing information and interacting with society. Therefore it is essential that the Web be accessible in order to provide equal access and equal opportunity to people with disabilities. An accessible Web can also help people with disabilities more actively participate in society.

The Web is an opportunity for unprecedented access to information for people with disabilities. That is, the accessibility barriers to print, audio, and visual media can be much more easily overcome through Web technologies. For example, when the primary way to get certain information was go to a library and read it on paper, there were significant barriers for many people with disabilities, including getting to the library, physically getting the resource, and reading the resource. Even when all these elements are accessible, it is difficult for some people to get resources from a library.

When that same information is also available on the Web in an accessible format, it is significantly easier for many people to get. Therefore, people with disabilities can have more effective and efficient access to information through accessible Web sites — in some cases, where there was essentially no access to them before.

The Web is an opportunity for unprecedented interaction for people with disabilities. For example, some disabilities limit the type of work a person can do. An accessible Web expands opportunities for communication, interaction, and employment for people with disabilities.

Web Accessibility Removes Barriers to Web Use

Currently there are significant barriers on the Web for many people with disabilities. Because most Web developers do not make their Web software and Web pages accessible, many people with disabilities have unnecessary difficulties using the Web, and in some cases, cannot effectively use the Web at all. For example, when developers require mouse interaction to use a Web site, people who cannot use a mouse can have great difficulty; and when developers do not include alternative text for important images, people who are blind cannot get the information from images.

Accessible Web sites enable people with disabilities to use the Web effectively. The document by the W3C How People with Disabilities Use the Web includes scenarios that illustrate people with different kinds of disabilities successfully using accessible Web sites.

It is difficult to estimate how many people are affected by Web accessibility, because countries use different methods and categories to determine the number of people with disabilities. Additionally, not all disabilities affect access to the Web (for example, difficulty walking does not affect access to the Web, though difficulty moving one's hands does). Also, common conditions (such as colour blindness) may not be considered disabilities in many countries, but do affect access to the Web. The United Nations (UN) Human Functioning and Disability page includes links to data for different countries. Market research such as The Market for Accessible Technology The Wide Range of Abilities and Its Impact on Computer Use and Accessible Technology in Computing Examining Awareness, Use, and Future Potential, from Microsoft, illustrate a different approach to estimating the percentage of computer users who might benefit from Web accessibility.

Overlap with Digital Divide Issues

The term "digital divide" is often used to refer to economic and social barriers to computer use for computer users without disabilities. Many people with disabilities are affected by the same economic and social factors, including very low rates of employment and consequently low income. Together with barriers in the physical environment and in computer technologies, these factors can result in:

• lack of accessible mainstream Web technologies (such as browsers and authoring tools)
• lack of effective, up-to-date assistive technologies
• lack of opportunities for training to become proficient with Web technologies
• limited access to a social environment that encourages Web use
• limited access to high-bandwidth connections, or even to regular Web access

An organization that is committed to reducing the digital divide can include in its business case a description of how Web accessibility can reduce the impact of the digital divide for people with disabilities.

Role of Organizations' Web Sites

When an organization's Web site is not accessible, it further excludes people with disabilities from society. When an organization's Web site is accessible, it empowers people with disabilities to participate in society. Providing an accessible Web site is one way an organization can demonstrate that it strives to meet the access needs of a diverse society.

Web Accessibility is an Aspect of Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility (CSR), also called corporate citizenship, generally means conducting business ethically and operating an organization in such a way that treats internal and external stakeholders ethically, increases human development, and is good for society and the environment. Web accessibility can impact an organization's employees, stockholders and board members, suppliers and vendors, partners and collaborators, customers, and others. Thus Web accessibility is an integral part of CSR in demonstrating an organization's commitment to providing equal opportunities.

Just as an accessible Web site can demonstrate CSR, an inaccessible Web site can undermine an organization's other CSR efforts.

The financial benefits of CSR are addressed in the W3C's Increases positive image section of the WAI's Financial Factors page.

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