> Amazon Access: How Accessible?
> By Kendra Mayfield
>
> 2:00 a.m. Dec. 20, 2001 PST
>
> Amazon.com's new site for the blind or visually impaired doesn't
> deliver the goods, critics say.
>
> The streamlined, alternative version of its text-only site has less
> text and graphics, which company executives hope will make it easier for
> visually impaired users using screen readers or other access software to shop
> online.
>
> But instead of improving access, critics say that Amazon has simply
> created a "second-best" alternative to Amazon's (AMZN) main e-commerce site.
>
> "On any number of levels, this is the wrong approach," said Joe Clark,
> an accessibility consultant and author. "Having a separate, text-only site
> with no graphics that's hidden from view where you can't do the same things as
> you can on the real site is the wrong idea."
>
>
>
>
>
> See also:
> Web News Still Fails Blind Users
> Disabled Access Now, More or Less
> Fed Opens Web to Disabled
> There's no biz like E-Biz
> Discover more Net Culture
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> The Amazon Access site was specifically designed to meet requests from
> visually impaired customers who wanted a fast and simple interface for finding
> and buying items, said Robert Frederick, manager of Amazon.com Anywhere.
>
> The site includes fewer links on a page and fewer search results,
> allowing users to get through a complete page in a shorter period of time.
> While it might take 4 to 5 minutes for customers using screen access software
> to navigate through Amazon's main site or text-only site, they can peruse
> Amazon's Access site in well under a minute.
>
> "It's a much different experience when you have just a few links on a
> page," Frederick said.
>
> Accessibility experts have pilloried Amazon's new site since it
> launched quietly earlier this month. Critics say that the site lacks some of
> the most basic elements of accessibility design.
>
> "Though someone claims that this website was created for people with
> disabilities, I don't believe it," Jim Thatcher, an accessibility consultant,
> said in an online discussion.
>
> "They have done none of the simplest things, like labeling input
> elements or 'alt text' on the one or two images that appear on every page. I
> believe this is an experiment for a site for small devices. If it were done
> for people using screen readers, don't you think at least the 'alt text' would
> have been added?"
>
> "It was not made for accessibility," Clark agreed. "It was made for
> wireless devices."
>
> By removing some of the graphics and text from its Access site, Amazon
> has removed some of the information about products and services that are
> available on Amazon's main site, Clark said.
>
> But while the Access site doesn't offer all of the same services as
> Amazon's standard site, it has been customized for those using screen access
> software, Frederick said. Customers may get an entirely different experience,
> depending on what type of browser or software they use to access the site.
>
> Users can still browse, search for items and receive personalized
> recommendations, just as they can on Amazon's main site.
>
> "It's the same functionality, but it's just a different experience,"
> Frederick said. "It's not everything, but it does have the features that our
> customers are most interested in. It's completely tailored for a specific type
> of user."
>
> Amazon said some visually impaired customers will still prefer to use
> its text-only site, which has been in place since the company was founded in
> 1995.
>
> "We anticipate that some users will gravitate to the Access site, but
> we're not expecting everyone to use it," Frederick said. "There may be some
> features that they would like to add. We hope that they would use the
> text-only site for that."
>
> But critics say that designers should focus on creating a single,
> fully accessible website, rather than creating alternative sites.
>
> According to the W3C guidelines, developers should create an
> alternative solution only as a last resort:
>
> "Content developers should only resort to alternative pages when other
> solutions fail because alternative pages are generally updated less often than
> 'primary' pages.... Before resorting to an alternative page, reconsider the
> design of the original page; making it accessible is likely to improve it for
> all users."
>
> "Providing an alternative version of the site is not the preferred
> solution," Denise Wood, a lecturer at the University of South Australia, said
> in an online discussion. "We need to aim to provide one accessible site for
> all users. While it is commendable that Amazon (has) at least developed a
> website that is more accessible, this should have been a consideration for the
> main site rather than as a second-best alternative."
>
> Accessibility expert Kynn Bartlett disagrees, however.
>
> "Alternative versions of websites are not only a good idea, they're a
> great idea and are necessary for the evolution of the Web and for continued
> access to content by people with disabilities," he said.
>
> It's easy for companies like Amazon to provide alternate interfaces
> for various users, including those with disabilities, non-English speakers and
> hand-held users, Bartlett said.
>
> "The bigger challenge -- and this is where Amazon may have fallen
> short -- is understanding how best to tailor those alternate interfaces to the
> needs of the specific user group," Bartlett said.
>
> Critics say it would be easy for Amazon to fix the problems with its
> main site by adding "alt text" on titles and skipping navigation links.
>
> Unlike multimedia sites, which are often difficult to make accessible,
> e-commerce sites like Amazon.com are easy to remedy, Clark said.
>
> "The idea that e-commerce sites are hugely inaccessible simply isn't
> true. The inaccessibility could be fixed readily. Any qualified accessibility
> expert could fix the problems on the Amazon homesite in about an hour."
>
> Still, some applaud Amazon's efforts to address accessibility issues.
>
> "I believe that this shopping site is an order of magnitude more
> accessible than almost all other shopping sites, certainly all major shopping
> sites," Thatcher said. "They have tried to present the essence of Amazon.com
> without all the glitz, and I think they have done a very good job of that."
>
> "Let's not be too quick to condemn Amazon for their goals, even if
> their implementation may need work," Bartlett said.
>
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> Web News Still Fails Blind Users
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>
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>
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