This is an old draft. The published version of this document is at www.w3.org/WAI/bcase/.

Web Accessibility Business Case: Overview
Social Factors
Technical Factors
Financial Factors
Legal & Policy Factors
References

Developing a Web Accessibility Business Case for Your Organization: References

This is an old draft. The published version of this document is at www.w3.org/WAI/bcase/.

on this page: introduction - @@ - related resources - document information

Note : This document is an initial draft [see change log in progress] and should not be referenced or quoted under any circumstances. This document is under development by the Education and Outreach Working Group (EOWG), and will be offered to other W3C groups and the public for review.

Introduction

@@ This page lists some of the resources and supporting information for the XYZ resource suite.,.. not complete list of all related resources or references ... listed here does not imply endorsement or that we agree with what is said in rest of resource ... [get help from W3C Comm team in writing this!] @@

@@ expanded a bit to say that the references below are available for two purposes: (1) to provide documentation for some of the statements in the resource suite, and (2) to demonstrate the types of information that are available from different sources, w/ the understanding that people compiling a business case in some cases may need to search for local information sources.@@

misc notes to incorporate

• see andrew's previous work at http://home.vicnet.net.au/~webacces/wai-eo/auxbenefits-refs.html
• http://www.webpronews.com/webdevelopment/sitedesign/wpn-26-20011025HowMeetingADAGuidelineswillEnhanceYourUsability.html
• #1 NEW RESEARCH STUDY SHOWS 57 PERCENT OF ADULT COMPUTER USERS CAN BENEFIT FROM ACCESSIBLE TECHNOLOGY -- MICROSOFT INTRODUCES RESOURCES, TUTORIALS, AND TIPS THAT ADDRESS NEEDS OF AGING WORKERS AND EMPLOYERS

  REDMOND, Wash. -- Feb. 2, 2004 -- Accessible computer technology, often associated only with people with disabilities, can benefit a much larger segment of the population, according to a new study conducted by Forrester Data and commissioned by Microsoft Corp.

  While accessibility options were originally designed for people with disabilities, the Forrester study shows that 57 percent of current working-age computer users may benefit from accessible technology because of mild to severe vision, hearing, dexterity, speech and cognitive difficulties and impairments. As the U.S. population continues to age, the number of people who experience these impairments will increase, and more people will likely turn to accessible technology to mitigate the effects of their changing physical abilities.

  In spring 2003, Forrester Data conducted a nationwide study of a representative sample of the U.S. population (with a statistical precision of plus or minus 1 percent) to measure the potential U.S. market of people who could benefit from using accessible technology. The study identified the type and severity of difficulties and impairments that respondents experience when performing daily tasks. Respondents were asked a range of questions about difficulties and impairments, computer use, their attitudes toward technology, and their demographic characteristics. The complete Forrester study can be accessed at http://www.microsoft.com/enable/research/.

  #2
  A new Microsoft white paper, "The Convergence of the Aging Workforce and Accessible Technology," outlines the challenges at hand for aging workers and their employers, and offers guidance for both groups on how they can use accessible technology to their advantage. The white paper can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/enable/aging/workforce.aspx.
  

• a short business case: http://www.sitepoint.com/article/sell-web-accessibility
• jon dodd' presentation from madrid: http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/2004/02/presenting_case.html

Overview

[O1] defintion of business case

• Definitions of Business case on the Web: http://www.google.com/search?q=define:Business+case

Social Factors

[S1] "CSR has been shown to improve financial performance, enhance brand image and reputation, increase sales and customer loyalty, increase ability to attract and retain employees, and provide access to capital and funding."

Overview of Corporate Social Responsibility

"a growing body of evidence that CSR has a positive impact on business economic performance"

"There is a growing body of data - quantitative and qualitative - that demonstrates the bottom-line benefits of socially responsible corporate performance ... Improved Financial Performance: ... Reduced Operating Costs ... Enhanced Brand Image and Reputation ... Increased Sales and Customer Loyalty ... Increased Productivity and Quality ... Increased Ability to Attract and Retain Employees ... Access to Capital ... "

includes a long list of nonprofit, public sector and/or academic resources working with the private sector in the area of corporate social responsibility from around the world

@@format@@ "A 2001 Environics International CSR Monitor survey showed that the factors most influencing public impressions of companies were social responsibility (49%); brand quality/reputation (40%); and business fundamentals (32%)." [[ original study for purchase through http://www.environicsinternational.com/default.asp?sp-csr.asp (could ask for limited stat for this if important) Millennium Poll says 56%: http://www.pwcglobal.com/extweb/ncpressrelease.nsf/84f5f51d361fe04e8525665f00506220/07eab72b718ee1ee852567fc005ee5df/$FILE/Millennium_Exec.A4.pdf]]

"business case for CSR: Better financial performance in companies with CSR programs. Reduced operating costs. Access to capital. Increased productivity and quality. Reduced regulatory oversight." "79% of consumers take corporate citizenship into account when making purchasing decisions (quoting enrironics 2001) " "A 1999 poll of 25,000 citizens across 23 countries on 6 continents showed the perceptions of companies around the world are more strongly linked with corporate citizenship (56%) than either brand quality (40%) or the perception of the business management (34%). 81% of consumers agree that when price and quality are equal, they are more likely to buy products associated with a good cause. " ... employees ... - http://www.albertaced.ca/sessions/Session17.ppt

misc

The European Commission, in their Green Paper "Promoting a European Framework for Corporate Social Responsibility " (July 2001), define it as a "concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis."

Technical Factors

@@ 1. Websites for Rural Australia Designing for Accessibility <http://www.rirdc.gov.au/reports/HCC/00-13pdf> - only available as a PDF and not entirely correct wrt accessibility for PWD (rather refers to access for rural Australia, but many solutions are related to WCAG, including clean code)

@@ 2. Speed Up Your Site: Web Site Optimization <http://www.websiteoptimization.com/speed/> - again not always entirely accurate from a WAI perspective, but many bits relate to WCAG (though some bits conflict)

@@ 3. Are we there yet? <http://www.humanfactors.com/downloads/aug032.htm#susan> - talks about Effects of Delay on User Perceptions of Web Sites

quality & standards

biz case for web standards: http://www.maccaws.org/kit/way-forward/

Financial Factors

[F1]"In some countries older people are the fastest growing group of new Web users."

@@ coming from andrew & henk

from henk: 'Webwereld' -' Web world' http://webwereld.nl/nieuws/17925.phtml

[F2] "Some search engines use metadata to index pages" and "Some search engines give higher weight to text that is marked up as headings"

"Some search engines give higher weight to text marked up as headings (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint x.x) [@@need supporting reference] " http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/Drafts/bcase/econ.html

Supporting references:

1. Ten Tips to the Top of Google - see item #7. <http://www.searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/2198931>

2. Proper Coding & Tagging Part 4: Heading Tags http://websearch.about.com/library/weekly/bl-seo101-codingd.htm

3. Search Engine Optimisation http://www.suzou.co.uk/services/titles_meta.htm

4. Design & Search Engine Optimisation - see item #2. http://www.abakus-internet-marketing.de/en/seo-tutorial/design.htm

5. Search Engine Marketing 101: What Search Engines See When They Visit Your Web Site http://www.searchengineworkshops.com/articles/SEO101.html

And here are some search-engine related articles supporting "clear links":

1. Search Engines And Font Tags <http://www.webpronews.com/wpn-4-20030611SEOCornerSearchEnginesandFontTags.html>

2. Proper Coding & Tagging Part 6: Link (Anchor) Text http://websearch.about.com/library/weekly/bl-seo101-codingf.htm

another detailed one: http://www.bigmouthmedia.com/search_engine_information/optimisation_accessibility/

[F3] "Alternative text for images and multimedia is available to search engines"

@@perhaps include example of page where companies name is only provided in a logo image at the top of the page. bad search engine hits! Now, add alt text to logo image and metadata, and viola, it's better.@@

[F4] "When accessibility is incorporated from the beginning of Web site development it is often a small percentage of the overall Web site cost."

@@ Gregg Vanderheiden, Director of the Trace R&D Center, noted that, “the vast majority of all information and services on the web can be made accessible for something on the order of 0.01% to 1% of the cost of creating and providing the information or service in the first place—especially if accessibility is addressed from the beginning of development.”[@@ In a Proposed Addition to the Record of the House Judiciary Committee Oversight Hearing on The Applicability of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to Private Internet Sites [@@www.trace.wisc.edu/docs/ada_internet_hearing/) ]

===

@@ URIs to support fastest growing group of new Web users (for references page).:

For Australia see "current state of play" <http://www.noie.gov.au/projects/framework/Progress/ie_stats/CSOP_Dec2003/index.htm>,
in particular "by age group" <http://www.noie.gov.au/projects/framework/Progress/ie_stats/CSOP_Dec2003/accessing.htm#agegroup>

Document Information

Last updated on $Date: 2012/08/01 20:34:31 $ by $Author: shawn $.

Editor: Shawn Lawton Henry. Previous Editor: Andrew Arch. This resource is under development by the active participants of the Education and Outreach Working Group.

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