23 April 2007

Building a website which offers accessibility for disabled individuals is "as important to a business as building wheelchair-accessible doors", one expert has claimed.

It is impossible for businesses to accurately gauge the varying requirements of their potential users and must design inclusively as a result, said Ben Waldron, writing for Microsoft's MSDN magazine.

Issues such as colour blindness - affecting between five and ten per cent of all males - could have a major impact upon a site's effectiveness, said Mr Waldron.

Avoidance of tables, which are difficult for screen readers to interact with, could also be important, he noted.

The expert added that the growth in mobile devices will also call for higher levels of online accessibility.

"After all, users have cell phones, PDAs, smartphones and other devices that access the web," explained Mr Waldron.

The comments echo those of web expert Cindy Krum, who recently urged designers to create accessible sites as they are more effective for mobile browsers.

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