Business on the internet is better when no one is left out.

The market is shrinking.

Internet customers in Munich are shopping in Muncie, people in Montreal are shopping in Montana, and people in Nuevo Laredo and shopping in … well … Laredo. It doesn’t matter where you operate your company - people who speak different languages will find you. If you want to turn them into customers, you must communicate with them in their own language.

Sometimes this is not important. For example, if you run a copywriting service that only employs English writers, you won’t increase sales by adding French to your website because you don’t write copy in French. But if you sell a useful little widget in San Diego, nearly a quarter of your local customers speak Spanish, and ten miles away is an entire country of Spanish speakers.

Dialogs can pave the road to the global market. By segregating content from design, a Dialogs site can easily switch languages. Content entry is simplified by organizing page content - in all languages - in one location.

A multi-lingual website is a commitment to multiple markets, and the communities you touch will return that commitment.

Could a disability get between your message and your audience?

Have you heard of section 508? If you are part of the U.S. federal government, or if you do business with the federal government, you are required to comply with the terms of section 508. Many companies are choosing to follow section 508 guidelines for their websites to make their communications available to people with disabilities.

Compliance seems simple enough, at least until you read the requirements. (You can read the 16 requirements at http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Content&ID=12#Web .) These requirements sound technical and complicated, but they all point to one general strategy: content must be accessible to everyone, regardless of disabilities.

Dialogs can do that. Just like a page of content can be displayed in various languages, content can be presented in a variety of formats. Images can be replaced with “alt” text. Rich media materials can be replaced with text narratives and/or audio descriptions. Navigation systems can be substituted. Text and graphics can be displayed larger. Of course, all these variations are organized in the CMS to simplify the task of creating and editing content.

Dialogs can help you achieve global accessibility. Reach out to everyone; exclude no one.