accessible websites are cost effective

Many companies have found that creating accessible Web sites is cost-effective and generally good business practice.

Easier to Upgrade

Accessible websites can increase the numbers of customers while also making the website easier to upgrade by the use of correctly coded style sheets. Correctly coded accessible websites employ the concept of graceful degradation. This means that while a website might not look exactly the same in an older browser or platform, the functionality is nonetheless retained. This principle applies equally to assistive technologies.

long term cost benefits

Making a website accessible may increase cost of initial design by one or two percent, but may increase the audience by as much as twenty percent. It is much more cost effective to create an accessible site from the beginning as it is estimated that Global 3,500 companies will spend $560 million to retrofit their web sites to meet the WCAG 1.0 guidelines.

higher productivity

Accessible websites are generally easier to use with increased navigational support in the form of sitemaps and obvious navigation bars. This can lead to increased user productivity, fewer errors, and greater site satisfaction in general. Accessibleintranets lead to a decreased need for user support and lower training costs.