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Re: what % of web users use screenreaders?

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From: Andrews, David B B (DEED)
Date: Oct 21, 2010 9:33AM

Hi:

I don't know the numbers, off the top of my head. And, I don't want to read too much into your question, or make assumptions -- however, I would be reticent about basing accessibility decisions on those numbers alone.

First, I suspect the numbers of screen reader users are lower than many people think. Blindness is a low incidence disability, and we will always loose at number games. Next, there are other disabilities out there that can benefit from accessibility efforts. I am a screen reader user -- nevertheless I would say that accessibility is bigger than us!

Finally, there are lots of benefits to lots of different users -- not just the disabled, for doing accessibility. So just doing it because of the numbers game is a losing proposition!

Dave