RE: Universal Accessibility

Interesting discussion, and the topic is one we wrestle with constantly, at 
HyperGold. The questions of accessibility often answer themselves, however, 
if the client firm knows the demographic makeup of its target market, and 
what the typical user's equipment and connection speed is likely to be. 
Without a clear profile of the intended user, there is no way to rationally 
design the web site. Take rationality out of the equation, and you have a 
prescription for disaster, as far as the web developer's business is 
concerned. How will the client (and you) judge whether or not you were 
successful in developing the site? Without clear definitions of the 
intended market, the mission of the site (or of sections within the site) 
cannot be accurately stated. Therefore, it becomes impossible to judge the 
value of the work.

I begin all of my negotiations with potential clients by asking them to 
define both the demographic makeup of the target audience, and the primary 
and secondary missions of the site. I also explain the risks involved in 
focusing on technology, rather than on content. Generally, form follows 
function in our business. If the client wants to wrap an e-commerce 
solution up in technology that taxes the intended user's connectivity and 
computer power, then there has to be a powerful reason for doing so -- IF 
the primary mission is to generate revenue from online sales transactions. 
If, on the other hand, the primary mission is to impress people with 
technology, and actually generating sales is secondary, then the design 
parameters take a different course. With rare exceptions,  a web site will 
not lose customers, or fail in its mission, because it uses simple and fast 
content delivery methods.

Rob Wood
HyperGold

I'll close with this parting question as food for thought:


At 12:35 PM 2/7/01 -0600, allred(at)its.state.ms.us wrote:
>If the sites are low traffic sites that don't try to sell products, the
>issue might be harder to justify to a client. On the other hand, if the
>company sells products through its web site, and the hit count is at least
>up in the thousands per month, then it's not hard to turn it into a dollars
>and cents argument.
>
>What is the average profit per web transaction? How many of those
>transactions are they willing to give up, given that varying levels of
>inaccessibilty exclude a varying number of potential customers? If they
>understand that they are literally tossing hundreds, thousands, or tens of
>thousands of dollars into the trash each month, they sit up and listen.
>When the choice is between ego and dollars, dollars usually wins.
>
>Accessibility for its own sake is a harder sell, but not impossible if the
>organization is concerned with its image and understands the impact their
>web site might have on that.
>
>--John

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