Testing websites for accessibility

The issue of website accessibility is a sometimes controversial one in new media circles.

There are a whole lot of misconceptions about accessibility, as well as numerous objections, some valid, some less so.

The most common issues are:

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 doesn't apply to us, and/or even if it did it is not enforced.
The Web Accessibility Initiative 1 (WAI1) standards are almost impossible to comply with.
WAI1 unduly restricts design decisions and Web 2.0 and 3.0 type services, so for practical reasons are best disregarded.
Accessable websites are not usable websites, and it is more important that we are usable.
WAI2 has superceeded WAI1, so WAI1 does not apply anymore.
It's just to expensive to test for, and while we would like to comply, it's low in terms of being a business priority.
Our website isn't for blind users, so accessibility is not relevant to us.

The World Wide Web is for everyone… and anyone of them could be a user

"The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect."
Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web