W3C Standards

The definition of W3C The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web (W3).

It is arranged as a consortium where member organisations maintain full-time staff for the purpose of working together in the development of standards for the W3.

The W3C exists to realize the full potential of the web. What is Web Accessibility? Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can use the Web. More specifically, 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 encompasses all disabilities that affect access to the Web, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities. Millions of people have disabilities that affect their use of the Web.

Currently most Web sites and Web software have accessibility barriers that make it difficult or impossible for many people with disabilities to use the Web.

As more accessible Web sites and software become available, people with disabilities are able to use and contribute to the Web more effectively.

Web accessibility also benefits people without disabilities. For example, a key principle of Web accessibility is designing Web sites and software that are flexible to meet different user needs, preferences, and situations. This flexibility also benefits people without disabilities in certain situations, such as people using a slow Internet connection, people with "temporary disabilities" such as a broken arm, and people with changing abilities due to aging. Entering brief, meaningful alternate text has become increasingly important in web design. A growing number of visually impaired people are using screen-reading applications, which read alternate text in a computer-generated voice as the pointer passes over graphics on a web page.

Perhaps the most obvious benefit of removing barriers to people with disabilities is that you will reach more potential customers! In the UK, there are 10 million people with some sort of disability. Having an inaccessible web site means turning away a lot of business- business that a better prepared competitor would be happy to accommodate!

Making your website accessible also improves its ability to be fully indexed by the search engines, and shows that you are committed to equal rights in the service of your customers.

Having a web site that conforms to W3C standards also means it will be fast loading (even on dial-up), easy to navigate, multi browser friendly ie. Internet explorer (5, 6,7 and 8), Fire Fox Mozilla, Netscape Navigator, Opera- the list is endless.