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

Developing a Web Accessibility Business Case for Your Organization: Social Factors

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

on this page: introduction - identifying - a social issue - corporate social responsibility - benefits more people - additional 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 is part of a resource suite that describes the social, technical, financial, and legal and policy factors relevant to developing a customized business case for Web accessibility for a specific organization.

The importance of various social factors of Web accessibility are different for specific organizations and situations. For example, one organization's goal might be to become a leader in corporate social responsibility, a different organization might be particularly interested in attracting capital from socially responsible investing sources, and another organization might be interested in demonstrating its focus on a specific societal group.

This page provides guidance on customizing how social factors are covered in a specific organization's business case for Web accessibility.

Identifying Social Factors for a Specific Organization

The following questions can help identify how the social factors of Web accessibility apply to the organization:

• Is the organization interested in enhancing its image with regard to social responsibility?
  The extent to which the organization is interested in investing in its social responsibility image impacts how much emphasis is placed on this aspect, related to other aspects (technical, financial, legal and policy), in a customized business case.
• Does the organization understand how Web accessibility fits into social responsibility?
  The Web Accessibility is a Social Issue section below explains that Web accessibility is essential for equal opportunity, introduces the barriers to Web use by people with disabilities, and mentions the role of organizations' Web sites.
• Does the organization already have a corporate social responsibility statement or program?
  (Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is described below.) An organization's commitment to social responsibility could be in various areas and formats, and might be called something other than CSR.
  • If yes: How does Web accessibility fit within the specific parameters that the organization focuses on in its social responsibility efforts?
    For example, are the organization's efforts focused on employee volunteerism, financial sponsorship of events, or improving corporate reputation? A customized case can emphasize those aspects which most closely align with the organizations priorities.
  • If no: Would it be effective to include the benefits and motivations behind corporate social responsibility?
    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. Many organizations around the world provide information about CSR (much of it free on the Web), such as statistics that shows how CSR impacts customers. @@ move all discussion of $ to financial! @@
• Are there other programs or initiatives within the organization that overlap with social factors?
  For example, is the organization heavily recruiting employees (and can attract people who want to work for an organization that is active in socially responsiblity), trying to increase its customer base for online sales (including from the groups of people listed in the Web Accessibility Benefits People with and without Disabilities section below), or seeking capital or other funding (and want to attract investors interested in socially responsible investing (SRI)).
• Does the organization target other groups that benefit from Web accessbility?
  The Web Accessibility Benefits People with and without Disabilities section below describes how accessibility for people with disabilities also improves access for older people, for people with low literacy, for speakers of other languages, for people with low bandwidth connections to the internet and older technologies, and for new and infrequent Web users.

Web Accessibility is a Social Issue

Web Accessibility is Essential for Equal Opportunity

The Web pervades many areas of society and daily life. In many countries Web interfaces are increasingly used for government information and services, education and training, commerce, news, workplace interaction, civic participation, and entertainment. In some cases, the Web is replacing traditional sources of information and interaction. The Web is an important medium for receiving information as well as providing information and interacting with society. Therefore, an accessible Web that allows people with disabilities to actively participate is essential for equal opportunities in many areas.

The Web is an opportunity for unprecedented access to information for people with disabilities. For example, when the primary way to get certain information was go to a library and read it on paper, there were significant barriers for many people with disabilities, including getting to the library, physically getting the resource, and reading the resource. Once that same information is available and accessible on the Web, it becomes significantly easier for many people with disabilities to access and use. Additionally, it is much easier for organizations to provide information as accessible digital media via the Web, rather than developing and distributing multiple alternative formats of printed material (such as large print, Braille, audio). Therefore, people with disabilities, as well as organizations, can have more effective and efficient communications and interactions through accessible Web sites - in some cases where there was essentially no access before.

Barriers to Web Use

Currently there are significant barriers on the Web for many people with disabilities. Because most Web developers do not make their Web software and Web pages accessible, many people with disabilities have unnecessary difficulties using the Web, and in some cases, cannot effectively use the Web at all. However, if Web sites were made accessible, people with disabilities could effectively use the Web. (How People with Disability Use the Web includes scenarios that illustrate some requirements of people with disabilities when using the Web.)

Other barriers to Web use are limited access to computer training, limited access to high bandwidth connections, and limited access to newer technologies (hardware and software). That is, some people do not have the financial means to afford regular access to the Web, or the social environment that encourages Web use. These socioeconomic factors that limit use of information and communications technologies, such as the Web, are often referred to as the "digital divide." Many people with disabilities are affected by such socioeconomic factors, including:

• lack of accessible mainstream Web technologies (such as browsers and authoring tools)
• lack of effective, up-to-date assistive technologies
• very low rates of employment, and consequently low income
• society's low expectations and lack of opportunities for training to become proficient with Web technologies

Role of Organizations' Web Sites

When an organization's Web products (Web site, authoring tool, etc.) are not accessible, they further exclude people with disabilities from society. When an organizations's Web products are accessible, they empower people with disabilities to participate in society. Providing accessible Web products can directly increase Web product usage, as described in the Financial Factors page of this resource suite, as well as demonstrate that an organization is sensitive to the access needs of a diverse society. This can engender goodwill and encourage other organizations to also make their Web products accessible.

Web Accessibility is an Aspect of Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility (CSR), also called corporate citizenship and other terms, is about operating an organization in such a way that treats internal and external stakeholders ethically, increases human development, positively impacts society and the environment, and generally conducting business ethically.

Web accessibility can impact an organization's employees, stockholders and board members, suppliers and vendors, partners and collaborators, customers, and other constituents. Thus Web accessibility in an integral part of CSR in demonstrating an organization's commitment to providing equal opportunities.

One motivation for organizations' social responsibility efforts is financial. An organization's efforts in Web accessibility is a public relations opportunity to increase their positive image, which could increase site use and offer direct and indirect financial gains, as discussed in the Financial Factors page of this resource suite. @@ move all discussion of $ to financial! @@

Web Accessibility Benefits People with and without Disabilities

While the main focus of Web accessibility is people with disabilities - including people with temporary disabilities, accessibility also benefits people without disabilities. The "Increased Web Site Use" section of Financial Factors lists aspects of Web accessibility that increase usability, thus also benefiting people without disabilities.

Web accessibility provides improved access, and thus social inclusion, for other groups of people that are often a focus of corporate social responsibility. Below are examples of aspects of Web accessibility that benefit others.

Access for Older People

While older people often experience changes in vision, hearing, dexterity, and memory as they age, they might not consider themselves to have disabilities. Yet the accessibility provisions that make the Web accessible also benefit older people with diminishing abilities. For example, many people with age-related visual deterioration can benefit from:

• sufficient contrast between foreground and background colors (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 2.2)
• text size defined as relative units (rather than absolute units) so they can progressively increase the text size in a regular site, as opposed to using a very differently designed text-only site or a screen reader (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 3.4)
• text and markup rather than images to convey information (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 3.1)
• text that does not blink or move (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 7.2, 7.3)

People with difficulty using the mouse benefit from:

• device independence that lets them use the keyboard, rather than having to use the mouse, for all Web site interaction (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 6.4, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4, 9.5)

Access for People with Low Literacy and Speakers of Other Languages

Accessible Web sites can benefit people with low literacy levels and people who are not fluent in the language of the Web site. Specifically, many of the aspects of Web accessibility for people with cognitive disabilities help people with low literacy or language understanding, including:

• clear and simple language as appropriate (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 14.1)
• supplemental illustrations (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 14.2)
• clear and consistent design, navigation, and links (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 13.1, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5, 13.6, 13.7, 13.8, 14.3)
• large blocks of information that are divided into groups (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 12.3)
• text that does not blink or move (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 7.2, 7.3)

In addition, accessible sites can be read and navigated by screen readers (for people who are blind) and people who cannot read can benefit from listening to sites.

Access for People with Low Bandwidth Connections to the Internet and Older Technologies

Some aspects of Web accessibility benefit people with low bandwidth connections, which can be because of location (for example, rural), bandwidth congestion, connection technology (for example, mobile phone or personal data assistant (PDA)), or because of financial situation (that is, cannot afford high-speed connection). Older technologies can also impose slow page loading and have limited support for features used on modern sites. People with low bandwidth connections and older technologies can benefit from:

• redundant coding for information conveyed with color and sufficient contrast between foreground and background colors, for people who have black and white monitors (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 2.1, 2.2)
• text descriptions of images, when they turn off images to speed download, and text alternatives for multimedia, for people whose older technology cannot access new multimedia formats and people whose connections are too low to download multimedia files (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 1.1)
• text size defined as relative units, for older browsers that do not override absolute text sizes (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 3.4)
• text and markup rather than images to convey information, which can increase download speed (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 3.1)
• style sheets used effectively to separate content from presentation, as it can decrease file size and file download requirements thus increasing download speed (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 3.3)
• sites that are organized so they can be read without style sheets, because some older technologies cannot handle style sheets (accessible pages can use style sheets and still be usable when style sheets are not supported) (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 6.1)
• sites that use valid W3C technologies (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 11.1, 3.2)
• sites that are usable when scripts, applets, or other programmatic objects are turned off or not supported (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 6.3)
• clear and consistent design, navigation, and links, which helps users open the pages they want and helps save wasted page loading time from users going down the wrong path (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 13.1, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5, 13.6, 13.7, 13.8, 14.3)

Access for New and Infrequent Web Users

Some people have little opportunity to use the Web because of the socioeconomic issues mentioned previously. New and infrequent Web users benefit from aspects of accessibility such as:

• clear and consistent design, navigation, and links (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 13.1, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5, 13.6, 13.7, 13.8, 14.3)
• providing redundant text links for image maps (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 1.2)
• informing users of new, spawned browser windows (WCAG 1.0 Checkpoint 10.1)

Document Information

Last updated on $Date: 2012/08/01 20:34:46 $ by $Author: shawn $.

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

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