Curb-cut Effect
You might remember a time when curbs were all one height. Because of the actions of dedicated disability advocates, we now have curbs with a cut in them to make it easier for persons in wheelchairs to cross the street, enter and exit businesses and buildings.
However, you also see these same cuts used by people pushing shopping carts, dragging their luggage or pushing a baby stroller. A remediation for one segment of the population has shown to be a benefit to everyone.
By having an accessible website, businesses may experience a larger market reach. When users can access your website, they can buy from you, retain your services and refer to you. Some of the features that make a well designed website Accessible to persons with disabilities, also boost SEO and mobile responsiveness.
YEARS OF COMMITMENT AND DEDICATION TO INCLUSIVE DESIGN
We have been educating on Web Accessibility for over 12 years. Our specialty in Web Accessibility includes gaining education from the leaders in Web Accessibility field, testing and remediating websites, speaking with attorneys who are involved in legal cases pertaining to Accessibility, speaking to businesses about the VALUE of an Accessible website, presenting at small business events and at web designer education events. We consult with other designers to make their clients websites better. We educate and train do-it-yourselfers with hands-on workshops on Accessibility.
We are available for presentations, custom workshops and consulting on Web Accessibility. The more we work together, the more Accessible the web will be for all. Accessibility is necessary for some and a benefit to all.
Automated Scan Tools:
For your own understanding, there are a few automated tools that can scan your website and give you a visual of potential errors. Automated scan tools will tell you that they are not always 100% and sometimes return false positives. No automated tool can provide a guaranteed results, however, it is a good place for you to start.
We have no affiliation with the following company or their tool, however, we have found it to be one of the most useful and the results are easy to understand. WAVE is a web accessibility evaluation tool developed by WebAIM.org. Go to their page and put your URL in the “Web page address” field.
This automated too will NOT identify ALL the errors in your site. It's a good start, but not all that you need. We use a few different automated tools, as well as native user testing for a deep analysis of your website. Simply dusting the surface is not sufficient for compliance with Accessibility.