Web accessibility
"Websites are written ... for people. " - Meaning: For everybody! When talking about "accessibility" you think of doors letting enough space for people in wheelchairs to access buildings or toilets. Which obstructions do surfers come across in the internet - be they handicapped or not?
Letīs look at colors: A website using red and green to highlight links or navigation elements makes navigating pretty hard for a red-green color blind person. If content on a homepage or areas of a form may only be accessed via mouse, a spastic will not be able to leave a message. People with a slow internet connection often turn off the graphics. A graphical navigation bar will leave these users out! 
Accessibility is hard or even impossible.
You think, we talk about only a handful of surfers? A great part of the handicapped population uses the internet as the medium for information and communication to a greater extent than the rest of the people. Additionally, the proportion of older "onliners" is rising. Forecasts say this groupīs internet use will increase the most.
You think an accessible website costs too much? Such a website may lead to a longer period of planning and development. On the other hand: Can you afford to turn off thousands of potential visitors and customers? Plus: Many countries establish regulations making accessibility of public websites a must. Similar laws for commercial websites are to follow.
You think the site will probably look "ugly"? Nobody said you should not use graphics and pictures at all in order to create a nice webdesign. But: Using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and separating content from design produces beautiful designs and accessible content.
Do you know the most famous blind visitor to your site? Google bot - googleīs search spider. Search engines can read text, for them a graphical element or picture may not even exist unless you describe it. This means: Accessible websites per se have better chances to reach an acceptable ranking in search engine results pages. (cf. search engine optimization)
Please call us - we gladly offer consultation on web accessibility: imprint! We also check out existing sites and add some features or transfer them to an accessible version.
words@business Klaudia Wagner M.A.
Text - Translation - Webdesign
Bahnhofstraße 41
55494 Rheinböllen
Tel. 0 67 64 / 30 35 67
Fax 0 67 64 / 30 39 740
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