What is Accessibility? Accessibility is the term that refers to making electronic information usable by anyone even those with disabilities. People that have disabilities often have to use special tools and software that allows them to access electronic information. Such special tools and software may hardware such as screens that create braille versions of the web pages or programs such as JAWS by Freedom Scientific.

What's the big deal about accessibility? In many cases, it's the law. New Legal Requirements in the United States, Canada, and the European Union mandate accessibility in many cases, especially if your web site is a government, civic, or educational web site (although these are not the only types of sites that fall under the requirement).

U.S. Section 508 defines specific requirements and sets the governmental standards for accessibility compliance. While based loosely on the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) of the WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative), there are some significant differences between the two standards. Knowing the difference can be a "big deal" to your organization. Knowing if you are in compliance and if you are required to be in compliance could very possibly prevent legal troubles before they occur.

Don't take accessibility lightly if you think that it might apply to you. There have been many successful lawsuits against entities and corporations that did not comply with the law. If you're not sure, ask questions and find out whether or not you are required to comply with accessibility standards.

In addition to legal requirements, it is simply a good idea. It DOES take extra effort to ensure a web site is in compliance with the standards and some of the requirements are somewhat subjective depending upon what level of accessibility your site is adhering to. In general though, there are some simple, straightforward things you can do to greatly improve the likelihood that your web site can be read by someone that is disabled.

Get Your Web Site Evaluated. WebGraffix Media Solutions can perform a complete evaluation of your web site and send you a complete report of our findings.

When we evaluate your site you will receive the following:

• In-Depth analysis of your site or web application
• User Interface and Functionality testing
• Report with Strengths, Weaknesses, and Suggested Enhancement Path
• Options for making suggested changes
• Testing of your site with potential customers (separate service with additional fee)

Email us at or call us at 1-229-243-7088 if you're interested in getting your web site evaluated for accessibility compliance.