Disabled people do not use the web
This is far from true. The advent of the web has probably enabled more disabled people to lead independent lives than any other of man's inventions. Computers running access technology software transform text or text equivalents into whatever format will support the users' needs.
Accessible websites mean that:
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People who can't see are able to shop online, and don't have to rely on others to tell them what's on each supermarket shelf.
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people with no mobility in their arms or hands can write and send a card to a friend.
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Dyslexic people are able to read volumes of books.
The web allows people to overcome the barriers of the terrestial world, so a great many of them have embraced the extra freedom enthusiastically.
Apart from which, accessible websites are easier for everyone to use, and users will return more frequently to sites that cause them the least problems.
Accessible websites look boring
They shouldn't, and certainly don't need to. Accessibility places very few restrictions on site design. In fact, as accessible sites make full use of structural HTML elements, it gives the creative designer a bigger pool of "hooks" for attractive styling. The use of images and colours actually improve accessibility for a great many users.
Accessibility only benefits blind people
Eyesight problems and blindness aren't the only forms of disability affecting people who use your website. Accessible pages work better for everyone who uses the web, not just those with a special need or limited ability. Making a site fully accessible can increase its usability dramatically.
If you think about it, almost everyone faces some sort of disability at some point in his or her life. For example, a broken wrist would limit your ability to use a mouse, and a headache would lower your tolerance of flickering images and poorly contrasted colours.
You must provide text only pages on your site
If care is taken making your page accessible, a text only page is very rarely required. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) doesn't recommend that full text page alternatives are used unless a page cannot be made accessible.
At RNIB, we advise against providing a text only version of a whole site, because being treated differently can reinforce the feeling of marginalisation that someone with a disability experiences. From a business perspective it also leads to dual maintenance of content, which is far from ideal.
You can't use images
Oh yes you can, and should. Although for example, blind users cannot see your images, it would be pointless to disadvantage sighted users by not including graphics at all. In fact, graphics can enhance the accessibility of a website for people who have low levels of literacy, the elderly or children.
Adding a relevant ALT attribute to the image in the coding of the page can go a long way to helping your site become more accessible. The ALT attribute can be used to insert a description of the information in the image. This description will be read out to a blind person using a screen reader and even though they cannot see the image, they will have enough information to understand what it's there for.
It's better to use a large font
This is not necessary at all. If you use relative or flexible font sizes, someone who has a low level of vision can resize the text to suit their needs, so you don't need to use big fonts.
In fact large fonts can make reading more difficult for some users. Some sight conditions leave people with good visual accuracy, but a very small field of vision, they might need to make text smaller so that they can see more than just a few letters at a time.
Red and green cannot be used
Red and green are perfectly acceptable colours to use! Just do not use them alone to convey information, or use one for text with a background of the other.
Using colours alone relies on the user being able to process colour, for example a timetable which makes a statement such as "All trains highlighted in red have been cancelled" relies solely on the readers ability to perceive and distinguish colour. This could be simply fixed by saying "All trains that are highlighted in red and marked "*" have been cancelled", then someone who has difficulty distinguishing the colour red, or who can't see, can look for the "*" marked information.
People with some colour blindness conditions find red and green difficult to tell apart,this also applies to some other colour combinations. The safest thing to do is ensure that colours provide good contrast, and use black or white as the text contrast for coloured backgrounds or the background for coloured text.
Colour choice is more important than contrast
Both are equally important. Use a flexible design that allows people to override the colours and backgrounds you have chosen. To make this possible, only define colour in your CSS styling, not in the HTML elements on your pages.
Accessibility is time-consuming, expensive and very technical
Retro-fitting a site for accessibility can be all of the above, but ultimately these investments pay for themselves in terms of a greater customer base and a generally improved visitor experience. Building accessibility into the design and build of a new site is not necessarily time consuming and technical. You'll find that it contributes to the usability of the site and cuts down on maintenance costs once the site is up and running.