Re: Auxiliary Benefits: filtering comments

Actually I don't think that the initial traffic increase is what is important
- getting people to your home page is only the first step. The point about
accessibility is that it allows people to do something when they are there
instead of searching for a competitor.

I know that I personally have dropped several companies from my list of
places to do business because their inaccessibility caused problems for me,
and there are others I try to avoid if possible becuase it is annoying to
stay there.

Rather than the analogy of the door lock, think of the customer service
person sitting on the desk saying "we're not interested in talking to you, do
everything yourself or go away". Now, why do we not see that very often in a
successful business or service?

(It isn't true that I can't use inaccessible sites - most of the time I can
if I only install a new browser some software I don't have. But I don't want
to - it is easier to find a competitor in most cases. If I had a real
accessibility requirement, of course, I would simply make a formal
complaint.)

Cheers

Charles

On Thu, 8 Aug 2002, Matt May wrote:

>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Chuck Letourneau" <cpl@starlingweb.com>
>> I am reasonably certain that the "Advertising Institute of America" (if
>> such a body exists) has data that shows that nationwide direct-mail
>> marketing of any product will generate more sales for that product.  In
>> that case, increased audience reach translates directly into increased
>> market share.  But in the case of a Web site people still have to come to
>> it: i.e. potential audience.  An accessible site only increases the size
>of
>> the potential audience.  I wish I could tell a company that an accessible
>> site guarantees more site traffic, but I can't.
>
>Sure you can. It's the inverse of the following statement, which I consider
>valid:
>An inaccessible site decreases site traffic.
>
>It appears to me that you're saying something comparable to "one can't claim
>that traffic to a store would necessarily increase just because the owner
>unlocked the front door." Eventually, someone is going to enter where they
>couldn't have before.
>
>Now, imagine that all of your competitors' doors are locked, while yours is
>open. (This is arguably the status quo in web accessibility in many areas.)
>
>So, back to my original statement:
>An inaccessible site decreases site traffic -- by virtue of turning away
>willing visitors.
>Lost traffic represents decreased market share.
>Therefore,
>An accessible site increases site traffic and market share.
>
>-
>m
>

-- 
Charles McCathieNevile    http://www.w3.org/People/Charles  phone: +61 409 134 136
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative     http://www.w3.org/WAI  fax: +33 4 92 38 78 22
Location: 21 Mitchell street FOOTSCRAY Vic 3011, Australia
(or W3C INRIA, Route des Lucioles, BP 93, 06902 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France)

Received on Friday, 9 August 2002 10:21:53 UTC