Download Resources for Developing a Web Accessibility Business Case for

Resources for Developing a Web Accessibility
Business Case for Your Organization
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This page is an appendix to Developing a Web Accessibility Business Case for Your
Organization.
Resources are for information purposes only, no endorsement is implied.
Contents:
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Case Studies of Accessibility Improvements
Statistics on People with Disabilities and Web Use
Accessibility Improving Search Engine Optimization
Example for ROI calculations
Cautionary Tales of Inaccessibility
Promoting Accessibility
Sharing Your Resources
Case Studies of Accessibility Improvements
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Legal & General Group - doubled visitor numbers, cut maintenance costs by two thirds,
increased natural search traffic by 50%. Read the Legal & General case study. (2007,
UK)
Tesco - £35 thousand GBP to build website, £13 million GBP per year in resultant
revenue. Read the Tesco case study. (2004, UK)
CNET - 30% increase in traffic from Google after CNET started providing transcripts
(reported AST(.ppt) ). We saw a significant increase in SEO referrals when we
launched an HTML version of our site, the major component of which was our
transcripts. - Justin Eckhouse, CNET, 2009.
Statistics on People with Disabilities and Web Use
See Number of People Affected (statistics) section in the Social Factors page for important
information on statistics.
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The Market for Accessible Technology - Research by Forrester, commissioned by
Microsoft. Example: Among US computer users in 2003 ranging from 18 to 64, 57%
(74.2 million) are likely to directly or indirectly benefit from the use of accessible
technology due to difficulties and impairments that may impact computer use.
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Industry sector case studies: ecommerce - a round up of data from a number of sources
by the UK Employers Forum on Disability. Example: 71% of people with disabilities in
the UK use the Web to find information on goods and services.
Web Accessibility for Older Users Presentation and Web Accessibility for Older Users:
A Literature Review - includes statistics on older users online. Example: number of
people over 65 is increasing rapidly; in 2020 (just 10 years away) it is expected to be
nearly 30% in Japan, 20% in Europe, and 16% in U.S.
Accessibility Improving Search Engine Optimization
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SEO and Accessibility Overlap - an article detailing many of the overlaps between
accessibility guidelines and best practice for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Webmaster World Forum: General Search Engine Promotion and Marketing Issues - a
lengthy thread of discussion of the applicability of the WCAG 2.0 techniques documents
to "on-page SEO".
Example for ROI calculations
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Brinck, T. Return on Goodwill: Return on Investment for Accessibility . In CostJustifying Usability, Randolph G. Bias, Deborah J. Mayhew, eds. 2005. Example
calculation gives a market increase of 8% and ROI of 2.4:1.
Cautionary Tales of Inaccessibility
When organizations do not make their websites accessible, they risk legal action and negative
publicity, as the case studies below illustrate.
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Target Corporation - settlement for damages of $6 million USD and attorney's fees and
costs over $3.7 million after lawsuit by US National Federation of the Blind (NFB). Read
the Target case study. (2008, USA)
Sydney Olympic Games - required to pay $20,000 AUD in damages due to poor
accessibility. Read the Sydney Olympics case study. (2000, Australia)
Amex - "Bank upgrade is excluding blind. Visually impaired customers of American
Express say they can no longer read their credit card statements online." - headlines after
making its statements less accessible in a format change. [BBC News ] (2008, UK)
Promoting Accessibility
Tips, guidance, and case studies are available from the WAI-Engage wiki page on Promoting
web accessibility.