RE: DRAFT: Contact blurb specific to developer audience (Education and Outreach Working Group)

Apart from one typo (and the fact that it's US-centric), this sounds really
good. I like it :-)

 

(Typo is in "As ideal as it sounds, many online retailers fail to reach this
valuable market because their web sites are not accessible the group
described - people with disabilities.". I think the word "to" needs to be
added between "accessible" and "the group".)

 

(It could be made less US-centric by including global numbers. But I might
be the only one concerned by this.)

 

Char

 

From: Sharron Rush [mailto:srush@knowbility.org] 
Sent: Wednesday, December 07, 2011 12:18 PM
To: w3c-wai-eo@w3.org
Subject: DRAFT: Contact blurb specific to developer audience (Education and
Outreach Working Group)

 

At 09:45 AM 12/2/2011, you wrote:



ACTION-16: write Contact blurb specific to developer audience (Education and
Outreach Working Group):


Should this go to this list or to the wiki?  Thanks!

If you sell goods and services online, you have an eager market that is 54
million people strong in the United States, maintains an aggregate income
that now exceeds $1 trillion, and boasts $220 billion in discretionary
spending power according to Fortune Magazine.  As ideal as it sounds, many
online retailers fail to reach this valuable market because their web sites
are not accessible the group described - people with disabilities.  This
large and growing group of customers is likely to lose interest when form
inputs aren't labeled, graphic elements are not described, or the next step
in a purchase process shows up in a modal dialogue that can't be found by
assistive technology.  These and other design barriers can make online
shopping miserable for potential buyers with disabilities.

If your customers are frustrated, you want to know about it.  The Web
Accessibility Initiative <http://www.w3.org/WAI/>  at the W3C has a resource
to help them communicate with you in a constructive and useful way.
Consider posting a link on your shopping pages for customers who encounter
shopping barriers.

The guide is called Contacting Organizations about Inaccessible Websites
<http://www.w3.org/WAI/users/inaccessible> and can help your potential
customers describe specific areas of pain.  Open the channels of
communication to potential customers with disabilities.  You may make their
holidays much merrier and give yourself the gift of a new customer who is
likely to return.  May your all your holidays be bright!