Every day millions of people struggle to use even some of the most basic portions of the internet!
508Surveys.com offers people with disabilities the ability to use an online survey tool.
Check out some interesting Facts about accessibility.
Accessibility Facts
1) The fundamental difference between usability and accessibility is that usability measures the users ability to find information, and accessibility measures the users ability to access the information. Sites can be very usuable, with clean, easy to understand naivgational and heirarchical structures, yet be very inaccessible.
2) Often organizations are so focused on usability testing that they forget to do accessiblity testing. The consequences of this can be devestating, possibly shutting down access to upward of 25% or more of your user base.
3) A good rule of thumb is: Anything that requires browser configuration or a browser plug-in has the potential to be an inaccessible technology.
4) Color blindness is actually fairly common. About 1 in 10 people have some type of color blindness. The most common type is red-green color blindness, which impaires the ability to distinguish between red and green.
5) By using semantic HTML and CSS to create a page layout, instead of using presentational markup and tables, it is not uncommon to achieve a filesize reduction of 70% or more on the html file.
6) According to The Center for an Accessible Society there are over 49 million Americans living with a disability of some type, with over 30 million between the ages of 21 and 64. That's nearly 20% of the population or 1 out of every 5 people.
7) According to the Department of Labor, people with disabilities have over $175 Billion in discretionary income. That's a pretty big population segment, and one that should not be ignored.
8) If you're coding your site using semantic HTML, then you're already a long way towards making your site Accessible. After you've coded the site, there are a few simple checks to make your site US Section 508 Compliant and WAI Level 1 compliant.
9) Many with disabilities will use alternative methods to browse the internet. Some of the most common include using text based browsers, and screen readers.
10) Although the US Section 508 requirements currently specify government obligations, there are interesting developments in case law with the parent statute, the Americans with Disabilities Act, which are winding their ways through the courts. One interesting case involves a settlement by the operators of Priceline.com and Ramada.com to pay $77,500 for improving the accessibility of their sites.
11) There are various other physical disabilities that can impare a person's ability to use a web site. These may include Parkinsons, ALS, arthritis, and many others. Often these disabilities will impare a user's ability to use a keyboard or operate a mouse which means that you will need to provide alternative methods for browsing your site.