Usability-Accessibility and their difference
It is vital not to confuse usability with accessibility. The two are completely different and there is a tendency towards thinking of one as less important than the other. Both aspects must be taken seriously and many of the values of each aspect equally apply to the other.
Optimizing a site’s performance will help it to become more accessible, or at least aid in providing a more solid base from where to start. If many people are finding difficulty in using the website, then it will be very challenging for those with actually learning or physical disabilities to use. In the same way, the magnitude of consideration towards accessibility should be the same with usability.
Accessibility is a very important aspect taught in many web design courses and schools. The internet is a medium designed for the masses, and web 2.0 technology is making this more and more true everyday.
You should always put your users first. If you take away all of the elaborate design, one should still be able to find a web page that is user friendly. Forget all the fancy, flashy stuff and focus on giving the customer the best content possible when designing a website. A fully usable website is designed with the needs of the user in mind first - then the whims of the web designer can be added to attract users. Keep in mind that regardless of whether fashion or websites are being judged, the winner is always decided by how the final product functions.
