* Knowbility offers affordable accessibility assessments
Increasingly, federal, state and local government agencies – as well as government-funded institutions such as colleges, libraries and hospitals – are facing mandates to provide accessible access to electronic and information resources. Just this June, my home state of Texas passed legislation known as HB-2819 that requires state agencies to meet federal accessibility standards for procurement of products and services such as telephones and other telecommunications products, information kiosks, transaction machines, Internet Web sites, multimedia resources, and office equipment, including copy machines and fax machines.
You’ve read my articles before on accessibility, which is the notion that software, Web sites, and other electronic and information technology must be designed in a manner to enable people with disabilities to use the technologies, often with the aid of assistive tools such as a screen reader. These recent laws and mandates are in the interest of serving all citizens, regardless of their abilities.
But you say you don’t work for a government agency, so why should you care? Corporations are waking up to the concept of accessibility, too, especially for their public-facing Web sites. Why? Because an inaccessible Web site – one that is not designed to accommodate people with disabilities – automatically excludes potential customers or partners from using that Web site. And who wants to turn away a willing customer these days?
If your Web site isn’t accessible, you might be doing more than closing the door on potential business. You could be positioning your company for a lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Priceline.com and Ramada Inn learned the hard way that a Web site can be considered a place of public accommodation that must be accessible to all users.
So how do you know if your Web site is fully accessible or not? Perhaps it’s time to have an assessment conducted by Web accessibility experts. Such a service doesn’t need to cost a lot. The non-profit organization known as Knowbility is ready to conduct your assessment for as little as $4,500.
Knowbility, in Austin, Texas, is recognized as an authority on IT accessibility for public and private sector organizations. The group just announced its Expert Assessment service to help companies and agencies identify their IT accessibility shortcomings and to incorporate best practices. The service includes a point-by-point diagnostic review and specific recommendations to comply with IT accessibility standards. Moreover, it includes a customized training session and a referral service to Web and software professionals in the Knowbility network that you can hire to implement the accessibility requirements.
Knowbility is a premier training organization for Web development professionals who need to learn the latest tools and techniques for creating accessible Web sites. Much of this training is conducted as part of a novel program called AIR, the Accessibility Internet Rally, which Knowbility rolled out in various cities across the country. The AIR program is a fun, friendly competition that pits Web development teams against each other as they create accessible Web sites for non-profit organizations, government agencies or educational institutions. At the end of the rally, Web sites are judged for their creativity as well as their accessibility. The participants say they enjoy the competitive test of their skills.
Preceding the competition, each team receives thorough training on the latest tools, techniques and best practices for accessible Web sites. For as little as $100 total, a Web development team of four or five people can receive the complete set of training. Now that’s a bargain that any training budget can afford! AIR competitions will be held in both Austin and Houston this October, so contact Knowbility if you’d like to enter a development team and get the state-of-the-art training at rock bottom prices.
Making your Web site accessible doesn’t need to be expensive. In fact, you will find that accessible design techniques make the site much easier to maintain, so you could actually lower your costs over the long run. Hmm. Cost avoidance. Lawsuit avoidance. More potential users and customers. Any way you look at it, accessible Web sites make sense.
Linda Musthaler is vice president of Currid & Company. You can write to her at mailto:Linda.Musthaler@currid.com
