Accessibility is not just for the blind
While the design industry is slowly becoming more educated through the evangelism of
Joe Clark1 and sites like Ian Lloyd??™s Accessify,2 many web designers still incorrectly equate
???disabled??? with ???blind.??? While it is true that the Web plays host to a significant number of
people with visual impairments, to slice the definition of disability so narrow is a disservice
to the millions of users with other handicaps.
WEB DESIGN AND MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR BUSINESS WEBSITES
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1. www.joeclark.org
2. www.accessify.com
The 2000 US Census reported that 12.3 percent of Americans have a disability??”including
sensory, physical, and mental disabilities. That number adds up to almost 32 million
people.3 There are very few businesses or institutions that would willingly turn away so
many potential customers, if they could find a way to serve them elegantly.
The first step to meeting the needs of the millions of disabled users is understanding their
situation. The word ???disability??? is an umbrella term that covers many categories of impairment,
from visual impairment to learning disabilities.
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