The past century has seen many advances for people with disabilities - the iron lung, the electric wheelchair, the "talking" computer to name but a few. Y2K and beyond will see many more amazing advances, creating more freedom, power and independence for people with disabilities.
I sense that Y2K will be known for increasing accessibility for people with disabilities to the Internet. In the US, Section 508 comes into effect, making mandatory that Federal department and agency sites meet standard accessibility guidelines.
In Europe, the political initiative eEurope is to ensure the European Union fully benefits from the changes the Information Society is bringing. The objective of the eEurope initiative has several ambitious actions, including cheaper Internet access, accelerating e-commerce, healthcare and government online, and e-participation for the disabled. The complete eEurope initiative can be viewed at http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dg13/com08... . (Be warned that this document requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which raises other accessibility issues...a topic for a future topic.)
Other large organizations are realizing the benefits of adopting web accessibility policies when developing their web sites and e-commerce businesses.
Legal cases, such as the recent one against AOL (http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/acce... are showing private business that people with disabilities have a voice and are not afraid to use it. They are no longer content to remain silent. Considering that in the US alone, individuals with disabilities have a combined income of nearly $700 billion. Of that figure, $175 billion is discretionary income. (President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities) Private business would be foolish to exclude this market from the Net.
My wish for the new millennium is that accessibility to all keeps increasing. I will do my part by continuing to provide informative articles on making web sites more accessible to people with disabilities. Please help me by telling me what kind of information you need to sway your clients and your decision-makers toward accessible web design.
I will end here by wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
All the best for a prosperous Y2K,
Glenda Watson Hyatt mailto:Glenda@eaglecom.bc.ca
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