24 January 2007

Retail companies with a web presence must comply with the Disability Discrimination Act and meet accessibility guidelines, one industry expert has warned.

James Roper, Chief Executive of the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) said that it is "right and proper" for companies to enable disabled and visually impaired users to access their e-commerce portals.

Additionally, making the move and offering high levels of accessibility will boost a company's profits by enabling them to reach a wider share of the available UK market, the analyst told Computeractive.

He asked: "Who wants to ignore 20 per cent of UK shoppers - which is around £4 billion of potential revenue to online retailers?"

Mr Roper also commented that many managers of retail companies are not aware that the accessibility of their websites needs to be improved, IT Week reports.

© Adfero Ltd

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