13.1 Introduction

Accessibility means "able to access." Quite frankly, most products cannot be accessed by everyone. Without accessibility, usability isn't even an issue. Once access is possible, designing for usability makes that access meaningful. Thus, usability and accessibility go hand in hand.

While information technology has become ubiquitous, it still remains inaccessible to a large number of people. A wide variety of design assumptions can create usage barriers designs for a single computer platform, for a single language, for people who are adept with a mouse, for people with strong vision, for those who can easily distinguish colors, and for those who are familiar with specialized terminology or user interface conventions. Designers may fall into the trap of designing for people like themselves or of assuming their target audience is homogeneous. Other designers may be concerned about the costs of designing for special cases.

Recent internet technologies have made a focus on accessibility more valuable than ever. Web sites are available to anyone with an Internet connection, and this has been a wonderful opportunity for people to reach information from any country, despite wide differences in knowledge, experience, and abilities. Nevertheless, without a focus on making these Web sites accessible, this opportunity is squandered.

This chapter addresses the costs and benefits of creating accessible designs, with a focus on access for people with disabilities. Web design is the running example, although the lessons apply to almost any design domain. In addition, the tradeoffs...