> Am I missing the point here?

Micky,

I agree with Ted. The bottom line is that you have a legal and moral
obligation to make your site accessible to all.

However, be very wary of people who offer only extreme answers.

In real world situations it is not always possible to move from an
inaccessible site to a totally accessible site (if such a beast even exists)
in one hit. However, you can move towards this goal in stages. Every step
forward will benefit some users.

The very first step is to determine your sites current accessibility
situation and then decide where you would like the site to be. This will
give you a long term plan that can be broken down into achievable stages.

There are many professional accessibility companies that offer these sort of
services. They can review your site and then offering suggestions to help
make the site more accessible. I'd avoid companies that offer only extreme
solutions or simply tell you where you fail without any attempt to help you
move towards your goal. The ideal company will not criticise or abuse, but
work with you to help you achieve your goal.

If you cannot afford professional assistance, there are many resources on
the web that will help you move towards an accessible website. You could
also ask for help from this list or others in order to review your site and
then help you determine the most important issues to address.

Some simple questions to help you get started (some of these already covered
by Ted):

- Does the site offer users a clear and easy-to-find method of contacting
you (like an email address or more importantly a phone number) should all
else fail?
- Are "alt" attributes used for all descriptive images?
- Does the site work with JavaScript disabled?
- Does the site work with images disabled?
- Does the site use visible skip menus to allow users to jump over large
areas of content?
- Is there sufficient colour brightness/contrasts?
- Is colour alone used for critical information?
- Are all links descriptive (for blind users)?
- Does the site use well structured code such as heading levels to make it
easier for assistive devices?
- Does the site use accessible forms?
- Does the site use accessible tables?

Good luck!
Russ





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