The application of WAI standards would also offer multiple benefits to various other groups in addition to people with disabilities.
Older people: While older people often experience changes in vision, hearing, dexterity, and memory as they age, they might not consider themselves to have disabilities. Yet the accessibility provisions that make the Web accessible also benefit older people with diminishing abilities. For example, many people with age-related visual deterioration can benefit from sufficient contrast between foreground and background colors, changeable text size, etc. Some older people with difficulty using the mouse benefit from device independence that lets them use the keyboard, rather than having to use the mouse, for all Web site interaction.
People with low literacy and people not fluent in the language: Accessible websites can benefit people with low literacy levels and people who are not fluent in the language of the website. Specifically, many of the aspects of web accessibility for people with cognitive disabilities help people who do not know the language well. In addition, accessible sites can be read by screen readers, so people who can understand the spoken language but cannot read can listen to websites.
People with low-bandwidth connections to the Internet and those using older technologies: Some aspects of web accessibility benefit people with low-bandwidth connections. Low bandwidth can be due to connection technology (e.g. mobile phone or personal data assistant), location (e.g. rural), or financial situations (a high-speed connection is unaffordable). Some older technologies load pages very slowly and do not support features used on newer sites. These issues are common in some developing countries and areas of developed countries. For example, people with low-bandwidth and old technologies can benefit from redundant coding of information and sufficient contrast between text and background colors for people who have black-and-white displays. Also, text description of images will be helpful for people who turn off images to speed up download and for devices/software that do not display images.
Source: Thatcher et al. (2006).
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