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Re: The cost of accessibility

for

From: Denis Boudreau
Date: Oct 5, 2010 10:33PM

Hi Iza,

On 2010-10-05, at 8:57 PM, Iza Bartosiewicz wrote:

> Hi Denis,
>
> Looks like you've started a very interesting discussion! :)

Thank, you, thank you. <grin>


> It may be worth getting in touch with Mike Davies [1], who worked on redevelopment of Legal & General (UK) website. That site became 'famous' few years ago for generating a considerable ROI from accessibility improvements, so Mike should know about the costs involved in making this happen.

An interesting idea, yes.

I had read about the case a while back, but never thought of contacting Mike to check that out.

It's certainly worth looking into. Thanks.


> His presentation about this project [2] might be of interest to you too. One thing that caught my eye was his statement that accessibility improvements focussed 'Particularly [on] the use of simple language' (the good old checkpoint 14.1), with great benefits. It is unfortunate then that WCAG 2.0 made this requirement optional. I brought this up, because any 'fully-skilled and experienced' team should include web developers as well as web writers (as Dey Alexander aptly put it: "Don't forget the 'C' in WCAG" [3]).
>
> The Legal & General website project was also discussed by MicroAngelo [4] and on Accessify Forum [5].
>
> Are you also considering the ongoing costs of maintaining accessible website?

Yes, we are considering this as well, but it's way too soon to conclude on anything at this point.

We've asked government organizations to evaluate the costs of accessibility: most tend to overestimate the costs and underestimate the benefits. A perfectly human reaction I guess.

/Denis


>
> [1] http://www.isolani.co.uk/
> [2] http://www.isolani.co.uk/presentations/wsg/wsg-webaccessibility.pdf
> [3] http://www.deyalexander.com.au/blog/2009/12/a-resolution-for-the-new-year-dont-forget-the-c-in-wcag/
> [4] http://www.microangelo.co.uk/2006/apr/news/pas78.php
> [5] http://www.accessifyforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=4798
>
> cheers
>
> Iza Bartosiewicz
> www.linkedin.com/in/izabartosiewicz
> twitter.com/mr0wka18