Website Accessibility Compliance

Companies should take a proactive look at this issue and take steps to protect themselves now.  While many organizations debate the impact of correcting website accessibility issues, the Department of Justice, the U.S. Senate and special interest groups are pushing ahead with their goal to ensure that individuals with disabilities are not discriminated by being denied access to the internet. 

Companies that discount the large market of the blind and visually impaired individuals that can and do use the Internet are making a huge mistake.  The business potential of attracting these individuals as online customers is enormous. 

Outside of the business opportunity having an accessible website can be extremely useful when applied to social networking, teaching and mentoring, given the opportunities it presents for personal interaction and collaboration.

Make sure that your physical access ducks are in a row at your retail stores.

• Read the Department of Justice’s ANPRM

• Review your own website (particularly retail parts of websites) and consider modifications to avoid “hot” issues
• Utilize  accessibility tools such as Audit Genie before complaints are made or suits are filed
• At the very least, consider ways to make online retail transactions accessible to blind and deaf patrons, the two biggest disability groups who are filing website accessibility lawsuits.

Audit Genie- An  on demand website testing tool that validates a website accessibility for disabled persons. www.auditgenie.com