Accessibility and the law
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 is intended to provide disabled people with equal access to services. This covers everything from physical access to a building through to the ability to access information on websites.It was implemented in several stages. With regard to websites, since 1 October 1999, companies which provide a service have to make "reasonable adjustments" to provide access to disabled people. The final part of the act came into force on 1 October 2004.
In addition, you must not treat people with disabilities "less favourably" than those without. Obviously, this means considering their needs when creating your website.
An introduction to accessibility concepts
Your website must be accessible to all user groups, including Deaf people (who may not speak English as their first language), people with visual impairment (from colour-blindness to total blindness), those with physical impairment (e.g. cannot use the mouse), and people with comprehension or learning difficulties (from dyslexia to autism).For example, any content provided in one format (such as an image) should be available in other formats (such as an alternative text content). A good test is to try your website in a text browser, where images, flash movies, javascript and sound are not available. Is any content lost to you? What would you think if visiting for the first time? If you listen to websites as rendered by a voice browser, you may also realise that some layouts do not work - for example the text may be in columns, but the voice reader reads each line across.
This should give you some idea of the issues involved, although you also need to consider use of Plain English and other help such as providing a glossary of terms when making a site accessible. It's also essential to have an easy method of navigation (and one which does not depend on mouse usage such as Javascript). A site map can help here, as can addition of keyboard shortcuts using Access Keys, but these do not completely address the issue. There are other concepts to consider too, such as programming in a flexible manner that allows the reader to adjust how text sizes and even the colour scheme appear in their browser, to suit their own needs.
Website accessibility standards
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3) have determined a set of standards for accessibility in websites, the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). The standards start at A and go up to AAA.The EU recommended standard, which is considered to meet the obligations of the Disability Discrimination Act, is WAI-AA (Double A). All websites created by Web Design & Mastery will meet this standard as a minimum. However, you should aspire to WAI-AAA, especially if you provide services for any disabled people. If this is the case, please let us know and we will ensure your website meets this highest level of accessibility.
If you already have a website we will overhaul it to WAI-AA or WAI-AAA standard - the process starts with our access audit.
More information
For more general information from W3 on why accessibility is important and how it can be achieved, see their Accessibility FAQ.In March 2004 SciVisum published the results of their Web Accessibility Study 2004. It found that 79% of the sites they tested failed their basic accessibility tests; more worryingly 40% of sites which claimed compliance actually failed.
The Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB)'s See It Right campaign tackles website accessibility for blind and partially sighted readers, and is actively preparing test cases. So far, every company approached has redesigned their website to meet accessibility standards, rather than go to court.
Accessibility for all is a legal requirement. How does your site fare?
For a review of your website, please complete the form on our access audit page.If you already know that you would like your website's accessibility improved, please call us on 07939 579090.
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