Web Accessibility: How Improving Online Communication for the Blind Aid

Many businesses struggle in today’s sluggish economy. According to ShopperTrak’s National Retail Sales Estimate, total retail sales for Christmas week 2010 dropped 4.1 percent and foot traffic in brick-and-mortar stores fell 6.1 percent (Christmas Week Retail Sales). To increase sales, companies must look for new marketing ideas and revenue streams. Two ideas are using Web advertising and creating online storefronts— ‘click-and-mortar’ stores versus ‘brick-and-mortar’ stores (Journal of Interactive Advertising 2002). Companies also target the massive â€Å"Baby Boomer Generation† to appeal to larger audiences. Businesses increase their Web presence effectively and efficiently by creating sites that appeal to the aging Baby Boomers and to all visually impaired people. They create these sites by using Web accessibility. The term visually impaired describes people reporting difficulty seeing even while wearing corrective lenses as well as those who are blind, according to the American Foundation of the Blind (Facts and Figures). The World Health Organization (WHO) divides vision into four categories: normal vision, moderate visual impairment, severe visual impairment, and blindness. Low vision includes individuals having â€Å"moderate visual impairment† and â€Å"severe visually impairment.† The low vision category includes legally blind individuals; the Braille Institute defines a legally blind person as someone who â€Å"central vision acuity† is 20/200 or less even with corrective lenses, such as glass or contact lenses. Low vision and blindness comprise the spectrum of visual impairment. The WHO states that glaucoma, cataracts, and â€Å"uncorrected refractive errors, such as myopia and astigmatism, are the major causes of visual impairment worldwide. ... ...C/q/id/53349/t/2>. Steinfeld, Charles. â€Å"Understanding Click and Mortar E-Commerce Approaches: A Conceptual Framework and Research Agenda.† Journal of Interactive Advertising. 2.2. Spring 2002. Print. Tim Berners-Lee: Bio. World Wide Web Consortium, 30 April 2010. Web. 10 April 2011. . United States. Census Bureau. Americans With Disabilities: 2005. Washington: GPO, 2008. Print. 29 USC. Sec. 794d. 1998. Print. US Web Retail Sales to Reach $249 Bln by '14-Study. Reuters, 8 March 2010. Web. 7 April 2011. . Vision Loss Rate Expected to Double as Boomers Age. SeniorLiving, n.d. Web. 8 April 2011. . World Health Organization, April 2011. Web. 6 April 2011. .