Today we’re pleased to welcome Nicolas Steenhout to Small Business Owner. Nic is the guy behind Accessibility NZ, a web accessibility firm based in New Zealand but offering most of its services worldwide. Nic is passionate about web accessibility and has some great insights to share with you.   Naomi

Having an accessible website means people with disabilities can interact with your site and access your content.  An accessible website also reduces barriers to many people who don’t have a disability.

There is no way to know how many people with disabilities are using the web. We do know that approximately 20% of the Australian population has some condition that affects their activities of daily living, such as seeing, hearing, or moving.  If 1 in 5 Australian has a significant disability, it makes sense to think that a large number of people with disabilities are using the web.

You can implement changes to your site to ensure you’re not cutting out potential customers. These changes will benefit other people as well. Accessibility techniques also apply to non-English speakers, folks who are colour-blind (about 8% of men), the elderly, and a growing number of people using smart phones.

Implementing accessibility doesn’t have to cost the earth.  It generally is better to plan for accessibility at the design phase, because it is more costly to retrofit the website.  But if you have an existing site, you can still make small changes to make a big difference.  Is a small investment worth a potential increase in traffic between 5 and 20 percent? How much have you invested in Search Engine Optimisation already?

Search engines can’t index your content if it is delivered only through images, or Flash. Think of Google as the largest blind user on the internet. If you increase accessibility, you also make it easier for search engines to find your content.

Baby boomers are starting to turn 65. For many of them, small font size that can’t easily be increased or low colour contrast can be a barrier. Grey text on light grey background might be nice from a design point of view, but it is difficult to read.

The internet is a global market. Your audience is no longer simply local. You don’t know if English is your visitors’ native language. Complex sentence structures make it difficult for non-English speakers to understand your content. Simplifying your language will also make your content easier to understand for people with learning disabilities (about 7% of Australians have dyslexia).

Smart phones are growing in popularity. People use these devices to visit websites.  Someone you see staring at an iPhone could be visiting your website.  Does your site work on a Smartphone? Mobile data is still costly in Australia. Delivering content through Flash or Java may not be the best way, even if the phones can handle these technologies.

Were you already aware of web accessibility issues?  What do you think you can do to reduce barriers?

Nicolas Steenhout, Head of Accessibility NZ

Five weeks ago I was frightened. Today I’m happy to say the fear is gone. Andrew Hurl     (my IT Guy) has delivered a new Empire website that exceeds all expectations. He did it on budget. And would’ve nailed it last fortnight, had I coughed up my content on time.

Andrew’s firm is SilverDimension. He should call it SilverBullet, because it slew my bête noire!

As presaged in Physician Heal Thyself, my website turned out to be the hardest piece of writing I’ve ever done. I had dreadful performance anxiety; all I could think was, ‘They’re all watching. This is where I stand or fall. What good is a copywriter who can’t write his own site?’

After I’d faffed around with every task except this critical one, Andrew broke my inertia by asking for one small paragraph. Like a breadstick diced, the massive job suddenly seemed digestible.

I still worried about clients, peers and prospects. Yet Andrew was operating in a much harsher glare. I’d named him and was describing his every move to the global business community … inviting every person and their pet to rifle his unfinished pages … crying about how hard and costly and time consuming the project was. Yet Andrew was unphased.

• When I couldn’t sleep for worry, my 3.00 am emails woke him via his mobile.
• When I requested four tiny changes (in a row) to one image, he didn’t complain.
• When he got the flu towards the end of the project, he kept on working.
• When I sent huge additional work samples at the last second, he barely murmured.

Now the site is live. I warmly invite your visit and double-barrelled feedback. Should you spot any errors or inconsistencies, please let me know. Given my profession, a quiet word via paul@thefeistyempire.com might be best.

I also wish to thank Adam Wilson at Logo Pogo who did the beautiful graphic design work. And Adam Finlay, who told me for years that I needed a new website. You were right, Mate!

I’m also grateful to you, dear reader, for taking the time to follow these posts and make helpful comments and suggestions. I’d like to thank God, my wife and (especially) my ISP, but it looks like we’re out of time…

Andrew Hurl     has served me well. All that remains is to not pay his invoice for as long as possible per our recent discussion!

J

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer

The NEW & IMPROVED Feisty Empire, NOW WITH ENZYMES

When I read the quote for my new website, I got a fright. It said something like ‘pictures not included’*.

Last time I worked in a creative studio, clients were charged up to $150 per picture (pic). I needed nine.

Fortunately, much has changed in recent years.

On Sunday I found and bought the pics I needed for only $15 each – a tenth of what I feared. My relief mirrored that of clients tracking this project with a view to doing their own sites.

Maybe you’ll benefit too.

Above is one of the pics I bought. You don’t see a lot of cuneiform on today’s corporate websites; it’s my WaPIUSP^! This medium-sized pic is perfect for my purposes.

The price licences me to use it on my website and this blog. Legally (and technically) I can’t plaster it on a jet or a skyscraper, but if I’m that successful, I’ll happily fork out an extra tenner.

I got the pic from iStockphoto. All the art directors I consulted recommended this site. Some also mentioned Shutterstock and Dreamstime but I didn’t find these as easy to use. You may.

In addition to being cheap and easy, iStockphoto had all the pics I sought. I added them to my ‘lightbox’, bought ‘credits’ on my credit card, downloaded the files to my PC and spent two hours trying to email them to my IT Guy.

Once he got them, it was on. Just look at the development site!

I’m thrilled. And glad not to be dealing with a full-service advertising agency from last decade. In those days, CDs costing around $450 held themed sets of around 80 pics (e.g. Ancient Scripts in the Workplace).

Once a client approved a creative concept, the agency bought the necessary CD (if it didn’t own it already). It then charged the client up to $150 per pic!

Thus, after recouping the cost in as few as three pic sales, the agency reaped pure profit from subsequent sales for the life of the CD. So long as cuneiform stayed in vogue, the CD was a money machine.

Next time you get a quote for a job with pics, ask how much they are. You may save quite a few shekels (and get exactly what you want) by sourcing them yourself.

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, www.thefeistyempire.com

* Images … will need to be provided or … sourced and the licensing fees paid … licensing fees are not included …

^ Weird and Possibly Ineffective Unique Selling Proposition.

Today I commissioned a $2500, scorched-earth rebuild of my entire website. I expected a faint pang of apprehension at this point; now that it’s here, I’m downright scared. I’ve written dozens of sites for clients, but this is different. It’s my site, my brand, my business and my money, um… line of credit, actually.

In short, it’s my a**e online. I’m literally trembling as I type. Will I triumph, or come a cropper? Let’s play the fortunately/unfortunately game to see:

Fortunately  I have a good man in my corner. He’s been my IT Guy for a couple of years and his service is second to none. He’s fast and smart and reasonably priced. He’s got offsite backup thingys coming out of his serial port, so that’s got to be good.

Unfortunately  my years of experience with web projects have taught me that they’re longer and stringier than the longest, stringiest bits of string. What starts as a five-page walk in the park can turn into a 15-volume Grimm’s fairy tale. Overnight.

Fortunately  I did things by the book. I wrote an explicit, four-page plan of what I wanted in terms of content, structure and functionality. I also wrote a creative brief, complete with sample images, to give the designer a clear sense of my vision. I even gave the URL of the site I wish to emulate – a site, ironically, whose content I edited with supreme confidence!

Unfortunately  until you see everything on screen, you don’t know how (if?) it’s going to work. And even if it’s all done right and I love it, my clients may not. They range from sole traders to corporate juggernauts; what pleases some may repel others. It all comes down to my professional judgment which, though unerring to date, feels strangely frail today.

Fortunately  I have a small circle of gifted, trusted, objective advisors. To these generous people I will send the site mock-ups that precede the main event.

Unfortunately  until we go live, I won’t know for sure whether all this time, money and effort will pay off.

Fortunately  the Empire is soon to be mentioned in a major magazine and featured on myBRC. It’s possible that hordes of new visitors will give me the feedback I crave.

Unfortunately  the site may not be ready in time for this exposure, and these rich, new prospects may hit (and flee) my tired, old site which is so in need of a makeover.

Fortunately  if the whole thing collapses in a screaming heap, I’ll at least get some amusing blog posts out of it.

All this goes to show that when you’re reinvesting your own hard-earned cash, even decades of expertise offer scant comfort. Do you trust yourself? Whence comes your confidence?

Your advice, warnings and hilarious anecdotes are invited at this point.

Wish me luck!

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, www.thefeistyempire.com