On This Page: Accessible Website Design | Accessibility To-do's | Make Your Site Accessible
Building your brand to its maximum potential requires maximum communication with your core target market. Websites are the number one connection point for potential customers to validate businesses and pre-shop products and services. Making sure your website is open and accessible is extremely important in this competitive era.
Accessibile Website Design
People with disabilities number about 1.85 million in Ontario and Canada wide have a buying power of over 28 billion dollars. Shutting out your goods and services to this many people in Canada alone is simply bad business when an accessible website should by now be common fare. Legislation now in effect in Ontario will require most to comply with web accessibility guidelines by 2015, however why give up on years of potential customer relationships and profits?
What Makes a Website Accessible?
Generally, web accessibility has had a somewhat negative conotation of being "websites for the blind". While this attribute is certainly one of the many aspects that goes into the creation of an accessible, there are several others:
- Cognitive Considerations
- Reading and Education Level
- Hearing Loss
- Physical Challenges
- Colour Blindness
- Visual Impairment
All of these segments have specific needs and considerations that need to be worked into any website design project. The list may look daunting, however the adaptations that can be made to meet double-A or higher accessibility ratings are straight-forward. You can learn more in the Falcon Innovation Group Learning Commons by reviewing the Web Accessibility Primer.
Falcon Innovation Group and Accessibility
Since 2003, Falcon Innovation Group has included high accessibility as a standard part of any web project. We are skilled and knowledgeable on accessibility with a decade worth of experience under our belts. We ensure your brand new web site meets accessibility requirements and suggestions and elevates your brand into compliane with the codes of good business as well as legal ones. (If you are in Ontario, be sure to look up our A.O.D.A. Primer on web accessibility in our Learning Commons).
Falcon Innovation Group Can bring your website up to par by:
- Conducting Accessibility Audits
- Creating Accessible Navigation Systems
- Correcting Alternate Text Defficiencies
- Ensuring Site Usability with Assistive Technology
- Making Your Site Compliant with Website Accessbility Initiatives and Canadian and U.S. Law
As an added bonus (if you need one), the most accessible websites are also the most search engine optimized as Google is the largest screen reader in the world.
Brand building is all about reinforcing the brand experience. Ensure that all members of society can use the information you have put online for the health of your own brand but also to build good brand relationships with your core target market. If your current website is not accessible or you would like an audit to see the level that it is at, please contact our company at 1-866-570-5344 to learn more.
