Good web site accessibility should be a no-brainer for designers and coders. There are many people who struggle to use web sites for a variety of reasons – vision impairment, colour perception problems, hand/eye co-ordination difficulties, motor nerve problems, the need to use alternative input devices, and so on.

Even if the affected people are deemed to be a small minority – not as small as you might suspect – effectively turning away even a small percentage of users is bad business.

Nobody should be excluded due to poor web site design and every effort should be made to make web sites as accessible as possible.

This is not just a moral responsibility, it’s good business to welcome everyone regardless of ability. The bonus payoff is that people lucky enough not to have a disability are likely to find accessible sites much easier to use as a result.

Can you get great design and good accessibility? It might prove more of a challenge, but it should be well within the capabilities of any good designer. The coding element of making web sites accessible is probably even easier, provided time and budget will accommodate the extra work.