But some of the comments on that article make for pretty dire reading, don’t they? Still, it’s good to read a few positive comments towards the end (no. 115 onwards).

Why do people always think accessability is about minorities of ‘people’? Sure, that is what the Target case is about but ‘accessibility’ in general, as is being discussed, is about the full spectre methods in which your information is being accessed (the clue is in the name!) — sure, screen readers for that low percentage of blind visitors to your site but also catering to different users’ browser settings, search engine crawls, viewing on a mobile device, printing the page out, tagging, RSS feeds etc.

This is exciting, not a ‘roadblock’ (no. 94)!

Ultimately if developers are too lazy and stubborn to consider this when designing and building a site, I don’t care, it means there’s more work out there for me ;)

“Web site accessibility is not only of benefit to users; it’s now a legal requirement. The regulations state that from the 1st October 2004, where a physical feature makes it impossible or unreasonable difficult for disabled persons to access your goods or services, your organisation is required to take reasonable steps to remove the feature, alter it so that it doesn’t have that effect, provide a reasonable means to avoiding the feature, or provide a reasonable alternative to make the service available. This applies to every organisation offering a service to the public regardless of whether it’s free.

The implementation of this 1995 law was staggered over nine years to give those affected enough time to prepare. The Disability Rights Commission is giving every indication that it sees this as long enough and will support anyone who prosecutes owners of offending sites.”

However the act also stretches it’s reach to the Web, although it’s widely considered to be a toothless act in this domain. Site owners have to “take reasonable steps” to make their pages accessible.

No matter the legal repercussions (or lack of) of having an inaccessible site, there’s surely an ethical drive as well as a commercial one for making your web site accessible.