Reading through the statements, several familiar myths and misconceptions about accessible web design were raised, yet again. A few are clarified below.
1. Accessible web sites are boring and cannot have any graphics.
The common belief is that web sites designed with accessibility in mind are boring because they cannot contain graphics, audio or visual clips. It is believed this is especially the case for users who are blind who use text-to-voice screen readers or refreshable Braille displays. This is NOT TRUE!
Gary Wunder, a Programmer-Analyst Expert at the University of Missouri who happens to be blind, explains, "The presence of graphics is not the problem, but the presence of unlabeled graphics and the design of systems which rely only on graphics are what cause us tremendous difficulty. People who have things to market should make their pages as visually attractive and marketable as they can, in the same way they would design a store window. Making services available to the blind isn't a matter of deciding whether to make a screen visually appealing or audibly accessible. It means taking thirty seconds to add a textual description to the graphic you've decided to display, and thereby expanding your customer base to include the ever-growing number of persons who either do not see or do not see well."
2. Accessible web design will limit designers creativity.
FALSE! Many web sites that have won awards for their designs are also fully accessible.
Dr. Steven Lucas, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Privaseek, Inc., testifies, "Accessibility techniques are not designed to limit the creativity of designer. The creation of accessible Web pages will allow more people to experience their creations. Developing an accessible Web site does not mean a developer must abandon artistic presentation or professional look. The artistic nature of the site will not be affected if the site is created with text-only pages first. Once the text version is created and tested for accessibility, the images and other artistic design features can be added."
3. Developing accessible sites will benefit only a small number of people.
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