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Designing Accessible Websites – The Growing Importance and Needs
An accessible website is one that can be reached and used by all users, irrespective of any physical disability they might have or the manner in which they use the internet. This is a sufficiently important condition which has become a legal requirement for certain websites in many countries, especially the U.S., and typically government sites.
An accessible website has business significance because current figures indicate that disabled users constitute between 10% and 20% of the population of most countries. These numbers do not include those who are marginally challenged to whom an accessible website would provide a more rewarding internet experience. Another consideration is the average age of users which is steadily increasing in most countries. With advancing years a number of issues arise such as changes in vision and hearing and a steady decline in dexterity and memory. All told the number of internet users who would benefit from more accessible websites would stand at around 30% of the population, a figure that no business can afford to ignore. Let us consider some of the more common issues involved.
Visually Disabled Users
Visually disabled could range from color blind to completely blind. Partially blind users have difficulty in grasping images which do not carry a text description of what they contain. A visually impaired user who is unable to see the image cannot comprehend what it is, or what it is trying to convey. Color blind users are sometimes unable to distinguish design elements, as well as text, from the surrounding elements which might include background or page color, since the two colors may not contrast sufficiently. Problems could also arise with sites not designed to enable viewing through a screen reader, which is a web browser that reads text aloud from websites. Frequently an attractive website can be quite indistinct when heard through a screen reader.
Hearing impairments
An accessible website has to accommodate users with impaired hearing. Hearing impaired users are unable to grasp information and data which is audio communicated. A simple solution is to provide an image or text description in addition, as a backup.
Physical disabilities
It is difficult to a person not physically disabled to understand how a website can be accessed without using a mouse. The needs of such disabled users should be addressed with website input and navigation methods which make the site accessible and user friendly.
Cognitive and Neurological Disabilities
An overly complex design makes a website confusing to most normal users, much more those with cognitive and neurological disorders. Such sites are completely beyond the comprehension of such users. Simplicity is the key to an effective website, more so if it is to be accessible to the broadest possible spectrum of users including those with cognitive and neurological disorders.
Several groups worldwide are focused on highlighting accessibility issues. They provide help and guidance to those who want to design accessible websites. One concerned group is the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) which has published guidelines and standards for accessible websites.
Difference between Small Business Web Design and Designing of Large Companies
Well when it comes to designing website people who generally get worried is small business as they do not have necessary funds to get a good website developed for their company. In case of large organization, there is no such obstacle that they should be so worried about they have all the necessary resources and funds to get a good website developed.
However, it is not necessary that you have to spend a packet to get a good website designed. A good website can also be designed in the most affordable rates without compromising with the quality. Whenever you get ready to get your own website and have an online presence, you also think of getting your specific needs met.
If you need a small business website design, you can look around for designers or companies that provide affordable website designs and some may provide readymade designs to cut down the cost. Whereas if you are a large company you can go in for a website design company which would provide you the services according to your company needs and requirements as being a big brand you cannot afford to make a mistake also you will not have time to take care of the after maintenance of the website.
A small business may have a website with only handful of pages, providing basic information and encouraging visitors to call for more information. A large business may have hundreds of pages on their website, and they may have a design that allows for secure online transactions. These are just two potential end results, but the point made here is that the size and type of company that you run has a major bearing on how your online presence should end up appearing well.
In addition, there is a huge difference between the advertising and marketing methods of small and large companies as the needs are very different for both. A small company would not spend so much on advertising and will use limited marketing tools whereas a large company would do the maximum to promote themselves.
Knowing all this when you want to hire a good web design company you would look for certain things like how much experience they have working with clients similar to yours, so that when you deal with them they know exactly what do you want and do the needful according to your requirements. In other words, we can say that they have experience working with companies of the same size and similar industries. This would help you get the best end products.
The small business web designer that you may choose will provide you all necessary services at the most affordable prices and the quality as desired. In addition, they will not neglect your company essentials and give you a website that is best for promoting your small business.
In case of large companies, the web design that you may chose will reflect you companys image and status. As it is not a standalone project, its a piece of your brand and with the ever growing importance of internet also more and more people getting access to internet, its part of your big brand. Therefore one has to be consistent with the approach between offline and online representation and you would need to get a web design that meshes with your image.
Without doubt, there are some differences between small and large company web design. One cannot just make judgments on just the number of pages on the website; its the type o online services that you provide and the image of your project along with your online presence. So finding a web design company that would work with companies of all size or your size you would more likely achieve success.