A key area to creating a user friendly site is making your site compliant for the disabled and functional limitations. The Internet has become a useful tool for handicapped customers. For example, a person who stutters may want to purchase online rather than deal with speaking with someone, or a person with walking limitations may want to make purchases from one simple click rather than walking through a store.

Of course, there are many more limitations to consider such as the visibly and hearing impaired, color blindness, cognitive disabilities, and those prone to epileptic seizures.

Although it may seem overwhelming to try to make your site compliant for functional limitations, it’s important to realize customer satisfaction matters, that these are potential clients you may be missing out on, and there are also laws to consider.

According to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, all federal sites must be compliant for disability and functional limitations, and so must companies who do business with the government online. As there are laws at the federal level, there are also laws at the state level. Last year, Target was sued because a blind patron in California was limited by their website and argued that it was against the California Disabled Persons Act.

You may think the services you offer are not targeted to the disabled, so they would not use your site. Well one example may be that the person may not be able to use your services, however they may want to buy it as a gift for someone. What it comes down to is that even if you feel there is no reason the disabled would use your site, it’s a choice to make, offering the best customer service out there!

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Categories: Design.
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