What is Accessibility?
Accessibility is not just about being able to use a website easily, it is about making the website usable by people that find it very difficult to use websites. Those people include the blind, partially sighted, older people, people who can't use a mouse, etc. It is a standard that is set by the Worldwide Web Consortium to ensure that websites meets the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. To put it another way, having a website that is not disabled accessible is the same as not providing an access ramp to a business premises for a wheelchair user (Provided the fitting of a ramp was feasible of course. It is, however, feasible to provide an accessible website in all cases).
Why is Accessibility important?
Before the internet, disabled people (such as blind, partially sighted, anyone with trouble reading text on paper) would have a really hard time accessing information. Newspapers, Books, Journals, Instructions, User Manuals, are among the many things that were almost impossible to use. You would have difficulty getting hold of a Braille copy of a newspaper or a user manual!
Along came the internet, which changed the way information could be accessed forever. Newspapers are online, pdf books can be used, and people with disabilities should be able to use websites.
The truth is that many websites, even those of larger companies, are still not designed properly even to offer a basic level of accessibility that is required for a disabled user. Making a website accessible doesn't make it look any different, it isn't in huge type, and it doesn't have lots of extra buttons on the page. Making a website accessible will mean that someone whose eyesight isn't so good, for example, can read the website (By choosing what size text they view the site with).
A good website should be programmed well to offer just a standard level of accessibility (higher levels of accessibility can be built in as well). If a website isn't accessible, then it will be excluding a lot of people who just won't be able to use it.
