Accessibility email to other web companies

What to write? How to write? I don’t want to hurt peoples feelings but … At a site and there is NO accessibility done. NADA. Not even full use of stylesheets. No Alt tages on images. light text on a light background. And these are sites developed by people billing there services as professional.

So I need a standard paragraph, maybe a couple paragraphs I can email the web designer about accessibility. Don’t want to hurt there feels but they need a clue.

Suggestions?

I wouldn’t worry too much about hurting their feelings. They obviously don’t care about other people, so why should you care overly much about them?

On the other hand, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, as they saying goes. Being polite and offering constructive criticism is more likely to have an effect than pointing out that they are ignorant, insensitive idiots. Even if they are.

If you are going to critique their website on the basis of accessibility, point them to the sections which need addressing (especially noting them to accepted accessibility documents such as WCAG, Section 508 and any relevant legislation). The most common reason why individuals fail to meet accessibility guidelines is simply because they don’t know that any exist. Most people don’t think of the Internet being something that disabled people can or do use (it’s almost a taboo subject unfortunately). Bringing them down to earth with a bang won’t make them want to help, but if your friendly and let them know that their endangering their reputation and potential visitor base, you should be able to get them to at least fix the most damaging issues. :slight_smile:

I am slightly sarcastic at the best of times. And yep I would like to have a nice friendly email. :slight_smile: How does this read?

Hi, I was on one of your clients websites and thought you might like some information on Web Site Accessibility.

* Accessibility - W3C
  http://www.w3.org/standards/webdesign/accessibility.html
* Introduction to Web Accessibility
  http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/accessibility.php
* Developing a Web Accessibility Business Case for Your Organization
  http://www.w3.org/WAI/bcase/Overview.html
* How People with Disabilities Use the Web
  http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/people-use-web.html
* Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Overview
  http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag.php

Well you certainly score highly on the sarcasm meter :stuck_out_tongue: How about…

Hello, It has come to my attention that your website has several faults which could damage your visitors overall experience. As I am sure you want to have the highest number of customers, you should ensure your website meets accessibility recommendations. As such many people using your website will find it impossible to navigate and therefore will go to your competitors. Can you run the risk that so many people will ignore your services? I am sending you this email because not only are you harming your potential visitor base but you could be deemed violating the law by not having an accessible website (see the target.com lawsuit). As a concerned user could you make the appropriate changes to meet WCAG recommendations and therefore allow those you currently discriminate against to visit your website.

It did get me a little pissy LOL. Thought it better to ask for some input before sending off a not so nice email. Tweaked your idea a little for the web professional/client situation.

It has come to my attention that at least one website you created for a client has several faults which could damage their visitors overall experience. I am sure you want your customers to have the highest number of customers, you should ensure the websites you create meet accessibility recommendations. As many people using the websites you create will find it impossible to navigate and therefore will go to your customers competitors. Can you run the risk that so many people will ignore your customers services? I am sending you this email because not only are you harming your customers potential visitor base but you could be deemed violating the law by not having creating an accessible website (see the target.com lawsuit). As a concerned user could you make the appropriate changes to meet WCAG recommendations and therefore allow those you currently discriminate against to visit your customers websites.

Yep that reads fine, the only issue I had with your earlier version was that it sounded the equivalent of “I saw your blog, these links will help you speak English” :lol:

I don’t think that will help at all. Those people won’t know what you’re talking about and can’t be bothered to read all the stuff you linked to.

Instead, you need to provide constructive criticism. Point out what doesn’t work and why I doesn’t work and how they’d be able to make more money if they fix the problems. Then you can link to WCAG for more in-depth information. Highlight the worst three to five accessibliity/usability oopsies and leave it at that.

Constructive criticism? Real good at the criticism part :stuck_out_tongue: So how would you word an email? Top 3 for me would be leaving style info in the html document. no alt tags for images. poor color/background choices.

There’s not a “top 3” violations, perhaps there are if you look at the most common ones, but generally speaking anything which violates accessibility (whether in WCAG or otherwise) is still seriously damaging to the end user and should be considered of the utmost importance in regards to fixing. :slight_smile:

True on the not having a top 3 violators. At the same time I am looking for a quick email to send that I do not have to edit for individual websites.

That would be rather pointless, I’m afraid. Such an email will most likely be ignored and considered to be ‘just complaining’. And the recipients are unlikely to understand what you’re talking about and why they should care.

You might have a file with a few standard paragraphs for common blunders, like missing text equivalents, insufficient contrast, etc. Then you can copy and paste from this file into your emails.

Also, you should endeavour to use correct spelling, grammar and terminology, to lend greater credibility to your statements. So don’t write “alt tags”, since there is no such thing as <alt> tags in any know version of HTML or XHTML. (It’s an attribute.)