I share the cynicism. The iBot stopped production for that very reason - insurers wouldn't cover enough of the cost.

A lot the same arguments crop up here whenever the subject of web accessibility arises. It's pretty obvious that playing on people's sense of ethics/compassion once again fails, so let's concentrate primarily on the economic arguments:

1. First of all, the "free market" argument doesn't hold water, since most industrialized nations have some sort of welfare system. Every time a disabled person has to get alternative accommodation because they were refused it in the public sphere, the workaround comes out of pockets of the taxpayers, disabled or not. A business owner may not have to pay for not making a site accessible, but everyone working there (a.k.a. Joe taxpayer) will pay in the long term.

2. Having multiple systems to accomplish the same goals is almost always more expensive than having a universally designed one. e.g. We are seeing this with public transportation in many cities - making conventional busses wheelchair-accessible is cheaper than subsidizing both a conventional transit system and an additional paratransit system.

3. By increasing disabled persons' participation in society, we can stimulate the economy. We are not talking small numbers of ppl (approx. 10-20% of citizens in wealthier nation have some sort of disability and the numbers are higher in less wealthy nations). Nor are we talking small dollar amounts ($3 trillion dollars worldwide). Just because businesses are unaware of these stats doesn't mean the numbers aren't there.

Other things to consider:

Disabled people aren't demanding absolutely everything on the planet be accessible, where do people get this idea? Stop vilifying them as such already. Accessibility is not about "special treatment", it is about undoing something that was done wrong in the first place. It's like saying the abolishment of slavery is giving "special treatment" to Blacks. The real drama queens are the ones claiming that accessibility is such a huge burden (and without any stats to back it up).

Access to the internet may not be a right, but more and more activities connected to our rights are accessed primarily by the internet. With rare exception, everyone becomes disabled at some point in their lives. Disability isn't merely a special interest group, it's everyone.

Furthermore, as has already been said many times in many ways, the measures to make websites accessible are fairly easy and straightforward - otherwise ur doin' it wrong.

I think a few of you need a lesson in the Social Model of Disability.