Online Marketer Makes Web Sites 'Readable' for Visually Impaired

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Designing Company Web Sites
Grant has been urging companies to create a Web presence that iscompatible with screen-reader software for several years now.
Making a site more accessible also makes it more visible and rankhigher on search engines such as Google, according to Grant, whosesearch-engine marketing firm has assisted numerous businesses sinceforming in 1997.
His company with 62 employees had more than $10 million in revenuesin 2007.
"It's a win-win situation for companies to make these changes andby doing so they not only broaden their visibility online, but theyopen themselves up to a completely new user demographic,ultimately, allowing for easier navigation and the ability to makepurchases," said Grant.
Grant says his vision is to make people "handi-capable," nothandicapped.
"You need to make accessibility part of your philosophy and part ofyour work ethic," he said, adding that sites can be made moreaccessible simply by tagging images with word descriptions. "Thisimmediately gives you a boost in your rankings and visibility."
Grant said he tells business owners that taking proper steps indesigning or modifying Web sites to make them accessible does notalways entail a huge price tag.
He also said that companies with knowledgeable webmasters canupdate a site in-house or pay $5,000 for a consultant to makechanges.
"People who are blind rely on the Web for all of the same reasonseveryone else would: information, commerce, entertainment" saidPaul Schroeder, vice president of programs and policy for theAmerican Federation for the Blind, a nonprofit helping the blindand visually impaired.
Schroeder said that the advent of computers and the Internetbrought information to the blind as quickly as it did for thesighted. He said those who are sight impaired no longer depend onsomeone transferring information from paper to audiotapes orBraille.
"For blind people the Web has all of the charm and capabilitiesthat sighted people want from it, but it has an added component ofreally being a link that is irreplaceable to the informationworld," Schroeder said.
Bringing Down Barriers
The Americans with Disabilities Act, which sets accessible designstandards among other things, states that inadequately designed Websites can create unnecessary barriers for people with disabilities,just as poorly designed buildings prevent some people fromentering.
Designers may not realize how simple features built into a Web pagecan assist someone who cannot see a computer monitor or use amouse, the ADA's Web site said.
The ADA requires retailers, restaurants and other businesses toprovide access to people with disabilities.
Lawsuits that have been filed over this requirement include legalaction against Target Corp., operator of Target stores.
The National Federation of the Blind said screen-reading softwarecannot translate parts of Target's Web site, making it difficultfor those with disabilities to use.
In April, a U.S. District judge from the Northern District ofCalifornia granted class-action status to the lawsuit.
"The recent decision on the Target lawsuit is a major break in thecase, for it tells Target that they will indeed need to changetheir Web site so that blind Americans will be able to shop there,"said Robert Stigile, president of NFB's California chapter.
Although the case against Target has not yet been settled, GarryGrant said the magnitude of an award could influence othercompanies to update their sites.
Copyright San Diego Business Journal Jun 2, 2008
(c) 2008 San Diego Business Journal. Provided by ProQuestInformation and Learning. All rights Reserved.

Source: San Diego Business Journal
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