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When I first started writing web apps in 2004, I tried to make everything nice and accessible. CSS, semantic HTML, etc. However, it was a huge pain in the ass

by Travis 16y ago

When I first started writing web apps in 2004, I tried to make everything nice and accessible. CSS, semantic HTML, etc. However, it was a huge pain in the ass. So now, for my b2b startup, we ignore that. We move quickly and try to push the product out the door so we can succeed. One of the things that has fallen by the wayside is accessibility. Further, with 15 different balls to juggle, I just can't make myself care about the percentage of users who can't use our site. For my startup, it seems that we would have a negative ROI for making our site accessible. In fact, I suspect the only way to get people to build better sites is for the money to clearly be worth it. So my question is this: why should a startup invest effort into something that will only affect a small number of users? Similarly, we don't test our site for IE6, just because it's a pain.

bphogan 16y ago
I understand how you feel. I've worked for startups that felt that way. If you've decided it's not worth it to focus on accessibility, I doubt I can change your mind with a few words on this HN post, especially if you can't make yourself care about a potential customer base. But I'll try anyway. If I want to start a restaurant, part of the cost of doing so is ensuring that the facilities I provide are accessible to the disabled. I need to have menus for the blind, or at least provide reasonable alternatives. That costs me money, and doesn't have a good ROI. But it's the law so I do it. Of course, there's no law mandating that your web site needs to be accessible, even though Target has been sued and settled out of court for having an inaccessible web site, as have a few others. If you plan to sell your services to a school or university that takes federal funds, then there are in fact laws that affect you. I'd argue it's not much of an additional cost to implement if you do it from the beginning, but it is certainly hard if you have no background or idea how to start. Things are different than they were in 2004, although we have a different set of issues to deal with. One thing I hate though is when people say "X is easy if you know how it works", so I'll do my best to explain some of these concepts as I go forward. Just promise you'll follow what I'm doing and keep providing those devil's advocate responses. Deal?

by Travis 16y ago

bphogan 16y ago

I understand how you feel. I've worked for startups that felt that way. If you've decided it's not worth it to focus on accessibility, I doubt I can change your mind with a few words on this HN post, especially if you can't make yourself care about a potential customer base. But I'll try anyway. If I want to start a restaurant, part of the cost of doing so is ensuring that the facilities I provide are accessible to the disabled. I need to have menus for the blind, or at least provide reasonable alternatives. That costs me money, and doesn't have a good ROI. But it's the law so I do it. Of course, there's no law mandating that your web site needs to be accessible, even though Target has been sued and settled out of court for having an inaccessible web site, as have a few others. If you plan to sell your services to a school or university that takes federal funds, then there are in fact laws that affect you. I'd argue it's not much of an additional cost to implement if you do it from the beginning, but it is certainly hard if you have no background or idea how to start. Things are different than they were in 2004, although we have a different set of issues to deal with. One thing I hate though is when people say "X is easy if you know how it works", so I'll do my best to explain some of these concepts as I go forward. Just promise you'll follow what I'm doing and keep providing those devil's advocate responses. Deal?