Can I be prosecuted for an inaccessible website?
by Flash Bristow, Website Accessibility ConsultantI was recently asked to explain the current climate in relation to the Disability Discrimination Act and whether there are any law enforceable bodies which will prosecute for an inaccessible website.
As things stand, the RNIB prepares test cases against companies - usually big firms - and instead of going to court, so far the companies have opted to make their websites accessible instead. There are various news articles about this, but as the case never goes to court, the companies are not named.
For example, these news stories give more information:
- RNIB set for first web accessibility suit [Isolani]
- Most UK Web sites break accessibility laws [ZDNet]
However, there is another body which supports individuals in claims against companies with inaccessible websites; the Equality and Human Rights Commission (formerly the Disability Rights Commission). They are active in supporting people against all kinds of accessibility problems, from physical access to products and services right through to online information and services. They outline many success stories on their website.
In Australia, a successful case was brought against the Sydney Olympic Committee by an individual, under their own Disability Discrimination Act, which is similar to our own. They were subsequently fined AUST $20000.
The case is outlined on this page:
Just because there has not yet been a similar case in the UK does not mean that companies should try to get away with inaccessible websites. The RNIB and Disability Rights Commission will respond to reports of inaccessible sites from individuals, so it does not need to be a big company to catch their attention.
Apart from avoiding the risk of prosecution, there are other good reasons for having a fully accessible website.
Firstly, the 10 million disabled people in the UK are considered to have a discretionary income of £50 billion per year - so it makes good business sense to have your products and services available to them!
Also, an accessible site, with text content alternatives in all the right places, will be more accurately indexed by search engines. At present many sites, particularly those with a Flash movie on the front page, have a Google page ranking of 0/10 - yes, that's zero! As your page ranking increases, so does traffic to your site - and ultimately your website will draw more business to you.
There is more information available from the Guild for Accessible Web Designers (GAWDS) - of which I am a member. This article from the GAWDS website explains why website accessibility is important - so don't just take my word for it!
I hope this has given you the information you need to be convinced that making your website accessible to all is not just a legal requirement, but a sound investment too.
Making your website accessible is likely to cost less than you thought, and most alterations can be made in "behind the scenes" code so that the appearance of your site to a normal graphical browser does not change. You should aim for the EU recommended standard of WAI-AA in order to cover your obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act.
Flash Wilson, Website Accessibility Consultant
Web Design & Mastery
http://www.webdesignandmastery.com
07939 579090
Further reading:
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 - http://www.disability.gov.uk/dda/RNIB See It Right Campaign - http://www.rnib.org.uk/seeitright/
Equality and Human Rights Commission - http://www.equalityhumanrights.com
W3 Consortium Web Accessibility Initiative - http://www.w3.org/WAI/
Guild of Accessible Web Designers (GAWDS) - http://www.gawds.net
©2004 by Flash Bristow
"We are really delighted with our new website. Flash was extremely fast, friendly and helpful all the way through the process and went to great lengths to get the website just as we wanted. As complete novices to the world of website design, we were grateful to have a person who made the task run so smoothly.
Thank you very much!"
[Hackney Family Backup]
[Hackney Family Backup]
"Thank you so much for all your hard work on my behalf; you very quickly grasped the image I wanted to portray. I am really pleased with the website that was delivered earlier than I expected and on budget. Your extensive knowledge of websites and the legislation that affects them is impressive and led to a level of detail that I was not expecting. I literally could not have done it without you. It has been a real pleasure working with Web Design & Mastery."
[Kate Fishpool Associates]
[Kate Fishpool Associates]