Web accessibility means -

Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web, and that they can contribute to the Web. Web accessibility also benefits others, including older people with changing abilities due to aging.

Why Web Accessibility is Important

The Web is an increasingly important resource in many aspects of life: education, employment, government, commerce, health care, recreation, and more. It is essential that the Web be accessible in order to provide equal access and equal opportunity to people with disabilities. An accessible Web can also help people with disabilities more actively participate in society.

Making Your Web Site Accessible

Making a Web site accessible can be simple or complex, depending on many factors such as the type of content, the size and complexity of the site, and the development tools and environment.

Many accessibility features are easily implemented if they are planned from the beginning of Web site development or redesign. Fixing inaccessible Web sites can require significant effort, especially sites that were not originally "coded" properly with standard XHTML markup, and sites with certain types of content such as multimedia.

It is essential that several different components of Web development and interaction work together in order for the Web to be accessible to people with disabilities. These components include:

• content - the information in a Web page or Web application, including: natural information such as text, images, and sounds - code or markup that defines structure, presentation, etc.
• Web browsers, media players, and other "user agents"
• assistive technology, in some cases - screen readers, alternative keyboards, switches, scanning software, etc.
• users' knowledge, experiences, and in some cases, adaptive strategies using the Web
• developers - designers, coders, authors, etc., including developers with disabilities and users who contribute content
• authoring tools - software that creates Web sites
• evaluation tools - Web accessibility evaluation tools, HTML validators, CSS validators, etc.