For five years, I’ve been involved in a wonderful program called AIR, which stands for Accessibility Internet Rally. AIR is the brainchild of a nonprofit organization called Knowbility, whose mission is to promote the development of Web sites that are accessible to people with disabilities. People who are blind or have other vision limitations may use assistive technology like screen readers to browse a Web site. If the site has not been designed with accessibility in mind, the user may have limited access to the site's information.

If you think this doesn’t matter to you and your company, think again. Accessibility has an impact on virtually every Web site.

In 2006, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) filed suit against Target Corporation on the grounds that Target’s Web sites is inaccessible to people who are blind, and thus in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The lawsuit is making its way through the courts and has yet to be settled or decided. Regardless of the eventual outcome, all companies should be asking themselves, “What about our Web site? Is it accessible? Could we be the next company to be sued?”

Certainly the fear of a lawsuit is one reason to want to make your Web site accessible, but there are economic reasons as well. For example, if your Web site can’t be used well with assistive technology, you are basically telling millions of people that they aren’t important to you. According to the World Health Organization, there are an estimated 180 million people worldwide who have a visual impairment. Of these, 40 million to 45 million are blind.

People with disabilities are a huge market opportunity. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the large and growing market of people with disabilities in the United States has $175 billion in discretionary spending power. Studies show that this demographic as a whole is extremely loyal to companies that are attentive to the needs of people with disabilities. Having an accessible Web site is one way to demonstrate your commitment to their needs.

From a technical standpoint, the techniques that are used to make a Web sites accessible provide numerous business bonuses. For one thing, your Web sites will be more visible to search engines, meaning your site should rank higher in searches. Also, your site will be easier to maintain over the years, reducing maintenance and development costs over the long term. And, there’s a strong correlation between mobile Web browsing and assistive technologies. So an accessible Web site is more extensible to alternative platforms like PDAs and smart phones.

Linda Musthaler is a principal analyst with Essential Solutions Corporation.