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Re: How do you make a someone understand the necessity of accessibility?

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From: Chagnon | PubCom
Date: Jun 11, 2013 8:17AM

As a community, we should find more effective methods of educating web developers, web managers, and owners about the issue. It's a question of using a carrot or stick.

The stick — shame, guilt, and threats of lawsuits or boycotts — work only as a last resort and don't create lasting change in behavior, especially over a wide population. Only the donkey getting hit with the stick will change, and then only when threatened with the stick.

As Greg asks below, how do we show the way?
How do we show the entire web development community that:
1) Accessibility is in their best interests. 10-20% of the population has difficulty using a computer.
2) Accessibility has many related benefits, such as making your content better able to be used across different platforms and devices, as well as republished in other formats (such as printed documents, websites, mobile devices, eReaders).
3) It's not difficult to design accessibility into a website. Here's how, etc.

As with any group of people, misconceptions get passed around like crazy. One web developer has problems making a site accessible, and then tells everyone he knows about hard it is and how much money it cost. This is dis-information spreading from developer to developer to developer.

An educational method would work well. Create a multi-pronged outreach program that educates everyone in the web development community. Teach them that it's not difficult to build in basic accessibility features. Show them the benefits. And teach them how to do it.

Break down the barriers, misconceptions, and ignorance with good solid public relations and education. You'll "win hearts and minds" that way, and you'll accomplish your goal of having accessible websites.

Carrots always work better than sticks.

—Bevi Chagnon