References for Auxiliary Benefits of Accessible Web Design

Note: This draft WAI Resource is under development by W3C/WAI's Education and Outreach Working Group (EOWG). We invite review and discussion. Please address your feedback to wai-eo-editors@w3.org, a mailing list with a public archive. Change log available.

Introduction
References

1. Introduction

The following reference websites have been provided to assist you with auxiliary business benefits of accessibile websites related to market reach and technical efficiency. The "Auxiliary Benefits of Accessible Web Design" describes the auxiliary benefits in detail.

Disclaimers (expand to english sentences):

Cannot guarantee stability of links
Are not endorsing any of the non-W3C sites
Are provided for informarion only - "caveat emptor"

Charmeine's Suggestion:
This document is a collection of references to augment the "Auxiliary Benefits of Accessible Web Design". These references do not constitute endorsement by the W3C or WAI and are provided for information purposes only. The stability of these sites cannot be guaranteed due to the external nature of the links.

Though not exhaustive, the goal of this document is to provide additional resources that may be useful in creating a business case for an organization.

The Australian Internet Industry Association strongly the supports the business case for accessibility in their "Accessibility Web Action Plan".: http://www.iia.net.au/awap.html#Business
Andrew J. Imparato, President and CEO, American Association of People with Disabilities, discusses how accessible technology creates employment opportunities and explains how employers can reap competitive advantage by tapping an overlooked resource: people with disabilities: http://www.microsoft.com/issues/essays/2002/11-21accessibility.asp

2. Increase Potential Audience Reach

2.1 Improve usability for non-disabled and disabled visitors

Many articles on Jacob Nielsen's "useit" site contain articles about usability that related to the WCAG 1.0 guidelines and checkpoints.: http://useit.com/alertbox/
The AusWeb02 conference paper "Dispelling the Myths - Accessibility is for All" by Andrew Arch discusses the general usability aspects of the WCAG 1.0 checkpoints.: http://ausweb.scu.edu.au/aw02/papers/refereed/arch/index.html
Bob Bailey's article "How should you lay out your Web site?" cites various research which suggests that 'fluid' designs, rather than fixed-width designs, are prefered by users.: http://www.humanfactors.com/downloads/oct02.asp#bobbailey
Bob Bailey's article "More about fonts" suggests that allowing visitors to adjust the font size to their own needs is desirable as 'no web page should be less than 10pt' and 'older users will benefit from type sizes of at least 14pt': http://www.humanfactors.com/downloads/feb02.asp#bobbailey

2.2 Support for Low Literacy Levels

2.3 Improve Search Engine listings and Resource Discovery

Search engine submission tips are well covered on Search Engine Watch including articles on how search engines rank pages, inlcuding the use of metatags, headings, alt-text etc.: http://searchenginewatch.com/webmasters/index.html

2.4 Support for the Semantic Web

2.5 Repurpose content for multiple formats or devices

Bob Bailey's article "How should you lay out your Web site?" cites various research which suggests that 'fluid' designs, rather than fixed-width designs, are prefered by users.: http://www.humanfactors.com/downloads/oct02.asp#bobbailey

2.6 Increase support for Internationalization

2.7 Assisting access for low-bandwidth users

The Australian Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation's report "Web Sites for Rural Australia - Designing for Accessibility" contains discusses the issues of low-bandwidth in rural Australia and draws on many of the WCAG 1.0 checkpoints in suggesting means of reducing it's impact.: http://www.rirdc.gov.au/reports/HCC/00-13.pdf - 260kb PDF file

3. Improve Efficiency

3.1 Reduce site maintenance

In the Library Journal article "Why Web Standards Matter" Carrie Bickner (July 2002) argues that employing standards can make web sites more accessible and save libraries both time and money.: http://libraryjournal.reviewsnews.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA232338&publication=libraryjournal

3.2 Site Search Engine Improvements

3.3 Repurposing Content

3.4 Address server-load

3.5 Address server-bandwidth

4. Demonstrate Social Responsibility

The Australia Bureaun of Statistics publication "Disability, Ageing and Carers" indicates that 19% of the Australian population had a disability in 1998, including 54% of people over 65 years who were living independently.: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs%40.nsf/b06660592430724fca2568b5007b8619/c258c88a7aa5a87eca2568a9001393e8!OpenDocument

5. Reduce Legal Liability

SOCOG -

AOL -

MARTA -

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Last Updated: 2 January 2003. Prepared by Andrew Arch (Andrew.Arch@visionaustralia.org.au) with assistance from W3C/WAI's EOWG members. About WAI: The Web Accessibility Initiative is supported in part by Sponsors. Opinions expressed in this document do not necessarily represent those of the sponsoring organizations.

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