Ah yes – The Trap.  We’ve all been there and done that.

Do you recall your first experience of having to call-in a professional to help with a particular job?  For some of us, doing it ourselves gives us great pride and the ultimate reward when we succeed.  But, we have all run up against those times when it didn’t quite work out that way…right?  What was your worst experience of trying to do something yourself and not getting it quite right?  Have you ever taken something apart; put it back together and have a few pieces left over?  I have.  And, the “thing” you worked on may actually work with the missing pieces.  But, I bet those pieces were there with a purpose and sooner or later there may be an issue.  And, of course, by the time that happens you will have already thrown the left-over parts away.

With regard to web site accessibility, it’s no different – you can “go it on your own” and probably do an okay job.  And, some of you might do an excellent job!  But, if you leave out needed parts or pieces your methods for putting the puzzle (our web site in this case) will be all the more challenging for you and your design team.

A TRUE STORY.  As a statewide consultant working with (let’s just say, clients), I recommended that a particular organization think about putting in an elevator to accommodate a person I knew would be needing to access (in this case a building with multiple floors).  This recommendation was brought forth for a number of years with no “takers”.  Well, lawyers got involved because the building was not accessible and the rest is history – the building now has an elevator.  But, the cost of legal fees and increased building expenses made this process far more challenging.

So – there are legal issues when it comes to web sites and their accessibility.  And, most of the time nobody is going to raise an issue because individuals with disabilities and those of us who just get plain annoyed with web site usability will go elsewhere for what we desire in a product if we cannot access yours.  Do not get caught in this trap.

Not withstanding legal issues related to web site accessibility – there’s the ethical side of the coin.  Accessibility should be built-in just because – nothing else, just because.  Did you know, however, sites that are more accessible work better on mobile devices such as internet smart phones?  Better yet – did you know that accessible sites also rank MUCH higher in terms of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?  This is a huge deal .  If your web site gets buried beneath all the other competitors you loose business.

Bottom line – do not get caught in the trap.  Let me give you thirty minutes of free advise related to your present web site and its accessibility needs or the site you plan to develop.  Go to my Sign Up page and ask for your free web site evaluation.  This evaluation will give you a very brief summary of what was found to be accessibility challenges on your site or point you in the right direction before you even start your web presence.