The W3C consortium (World Wide Web Consortium), the agency that determines policy for web design and coding standards, recently held summits to discuss the issues of web accessibility disabled persons and non-English speaking users. The legislation that was passed will help millions of disabled Texans by improving website accessibility and functionality. This requires Texas Web Designers to do their due diligence when building new websites or redesigning existing sites, to ensure that the visually and hearing-impaired will be able to access and use these sites.
In the new House Bill 2819 (79th Regular Legislative Session), all state and federal agencies must now ensure that disabled individuals are given the same access to web content as those who aren't disabled, allowing of course for some provisions. Specifically, if an agency makes the claim that converting everything is simply cost-prohibitive, they are allowed to request an appeal to void the requirement. Some believe this loophole will result in large numbers of agencies and companies not living up to their duties. Texas Web Designers will no doubt have a tricky terrain to navigate here.
Although it may be tempting to cut a few corners and save some money by appealing this decision using this loophole, companies should consider the profits they may produce by gaining a wider audience, not to mention the good PR. Some companies, with the help of Texas Web Designers, have already made such changes voluntarily, and these companies can testify to the record profits such innovative changes have produced.
Every single one of us in the IT industry should be held accountable to this new standard: Texas Web Designers, coding specialists, IT experts, programming specialists, etcAccording to the Standards Review and Recommendations Publication, "People aged 45 through 54 have an 11.5 percent chance of developing a disability. This figure nearly doubles to 21.9 percent for those aged 55 through 64. The number of workers aged 55 and older will grow from 13 percent of the labor force in 2000 to 20 percent in 2020." (SRRPUB11) What does all of this mean? Quite simply, there is a large opportunity to expand your market by doing the right thing.
And if you're concerned that these changes would be too big of an undertaking for your organization, you need not fear. It can be done quickly and cheaply most of the time, especially with the advancement of dynamic programming languages like ASP.net and PHP/MySQL, it is easier and easier to implement site-wide changes in just a few clicks.
It is important that we do not discriminate against disabled individuals by ignoring this legislation. We must make a concerted effort to comply with these standards. If we do, we will all benefit from the increased market share derived from these changes. Moreover, Texas Web Designers will stand as a shining example of what can be accomplished when we concern ourselves with issues affecting our disabled men and women. - 15431
In the new House Bill 2819 (79th Regular Legislative Session), all state and federal agencies must now ensure that disabled individuals are given the same access to web content as those who aren't disabled, allowing of course for some provisions. Specifically, if an agency makes the claim that converting everything is simply cost-prohibitive, they are allowed to request an appeal to void the requirement. Some believe this loophole will result in large numbers of agencies and companies not living up to their duties. Texas Web Designers will no doubt have a tricky terrain to navigate here.
Although it may be tempting to cut a few corners and save some money by appealing this decision using this loophole, companies should consider the profits they may produce by gaining a wider audience, not to mention the good PR. Some companies, with the help of Texas Web Designers, have already made such changes voluntarily, and these companies can testify to the record profits such innovative changes have produced.
Every single one of us in the IT industry should be held accountable to this new standard: Texas Web Designers, coding specialists, IT experts, programming specialists, etcAccording to the Standards Review and Recommendations Publication, "People aged 45 through 54 have an 11.5 percent chance of developing a disability. This figure nearly doubles to 21.9 percent for those aged 55 through 64. The number of workers aged 55 and older will grow from 13 percent of the labor force in 2000 to 20 percent in 2020." (SRRPUB11) What does all of this mean? Quite simply, there is a large opportunity to expand your market by doing the right thing.
And if you're concerned that these changes would be too big of an undertaking for your organization, you need not fear. It can be done quickly and cheaply most of the time, especially with the advancement of dynamic programming languages like ASP.net and PHP/MySQL, it is easier and easier to implement site-wide changes in just a few clicks.
It is important that we do not discriminate against disabled individuals by ignoring this legislation. We must make a concerted effort to comply with these standards. If we do, we will all benefit from the increased market share derived from these changes. Moreover, Texas Web Designers will stand as a shining example of what can be accomplished when we concern ourselves with issues affecting our disabled men and women. - 15431
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