DIGITAL & WEB ACCESSIBILITY

Imagine this scenario. You're sitting in an Internet café enjoying your cappuccino and you notice a blind person sitting at one of the computers next to you, asking for somebody to assist them. Would you help? Even if you knew nothing about computers, you would at least ask them what the problem was, and find a staff member to help solve the problem.

Now, think about the website that they were having such problems dealing with. Would you have felt slightly responsible if you'd looked at the monitor and found the site was in fact yours? Highly unlikely that it would have been, considering that there are millions of websites based in the UK alone, but very likely that whichever one of those millions of sites they chose to visit would give them some degree of difficulty with access to the information.

If you are willing to help a total stranger in a café, doesn't it seem reasonable that you'd want to help potential customers, employees and other visitors gain trouble-free access to your or your company's website?

So what actually is Web Accessibility?

Web Accessibility can be defined as the ability for anyone browsing a website, regardless of their location, experience, disability or the type of technology they use, to obtain an equal level of access and clarity of information as any other user.

Simply put, website accessibility is about making a site accessible to the largest range of people possible.

Why is it so important to be accessible?

The three best reasons for making your website accessible are:

It's the right thing to do - Seldom do we find the opportunity in business to make a real positive change to the way our society works. Accessibility is an essential step towards equal access of information for all, which is both morally and ethically rewarding for those who actively support the changes.
It makes good business sense - Making your website accessible will allow many more potential customers or clients to successfully visit your site, and provides an opportunity to tap into markets that were previously unattainable (see the list below). A good deal of positive PR will come from being socially responsible and complying with web best practice. PR that your competitors may experience in reverse should they not make the required changes when you do. Search Engines will love your website as they use the same basic rules to search for information as the software that a visually impaired person would use.
It's a legal requirement - Equality is a basic democratic right and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA), which fully comes into force this year, requires all publicly accessed websites to be compliant with Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines, an initiative set up by the Internet's governing body, the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C). Section 19 makes it unlawful for a provider of services to discriminate against a disabled person, and examples of the services to which sections 20 and 21 applies includes "access to and use of means of communications" and "access to and use of information services". Both of these sub-sections apply to the design and function of a website.

Where a service provider fails to make reasonable adjustments and therefore fails to comply with the legal requirements for website accessibility, a disabled person or representative can initiate a claim against the website owner.

The importance of Web accessibility was highlighted in court to the Olympic movement in 2000 after a lawsuit was successfully brought against Sydney organisers (SOCOG) for the content of the site www.olympics.com. A private citizen succeeded in winning AUD20,000 in damages, on the 6th of November, 2001, after a ruling that the Olympics portal caused "unjustifiable hardship" in failing to meet accessibility standards.

Salt Lake City Winter Games organisers also attracted strong criticism for their failure to meet the basic accessibility standards set by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

For further information, see BBC News Online Tuesday, 12 March 2002

America, the European Union, and many other countries, have also made important steps to establishing a global coverage to accessibility legislation. US legislation comes in the form of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). A US governmental advisory body, The National Council on Disability (NCD) stated in October 2003 that the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to both commercial and other private websites.

So, whether you are motivated by ethics, good business sense or the necessity for legal compliance, the arguments for making your website accessible are clear-cut and straightforward.

So who exactly does it affect?

When discussing web accessibility issues, most people begin by talking about people with physical disabilities. This is because, as a group, disabled people such as the blind and visually impaired are the most affected when dealing with inadequately constructed websites. However, web accessibility is a much wider issue, and at a fundamental level, affects all of us.

Consider the following users, all of who can experience severe difficulties when confronted with poor accessibility:

Blind and partially sighted people are probably the largest group of individuals affected by accessibility issues. However, dyslexics and the colour blind also make up a large percentage of Internet users. Just under two million people in the UK have a visual impairment that prohibits them to a greater or lesser degree in using the majority of commercial sites.
People with physical disabilities, such as those with impaired mobility. Around 8 million people in the UK are classified as having some type of disability.
People using mobile phones and PDA's to access the Internet. As well as being affluent and technologically advanced, this group is rapidly growing and will soon be regarded as a significant percentage of Internet users.
People using old browsers or old computers. Many companies, organisations and individuals are maintaining older technology in preference to upgrading their systems.
People using slow Internet connections.
The "Silver Surfer" is one of the biggest growing markets on the web and has a large amount of disposable income. This sector has accessibility issues such as reduced mobility, reduced hand-eye co-ordination and poor vision.
Young Internet users can also have poor hand-eye co-ordination, coupled with a low reading age.
People who don't speak or understand English fluently.

How can we help?

Making your website accessible doesn't need to be a complicated task, but it does need to be done properly. Carbon Chip specialises in all accessibility issues and therefore we are able to make your website compliant with the minimum upheaval and interruption to your business.

We will first audit your website and provide an appraisal of its accessibility. We do not charge for a basic audit. If you would like a full technical report along with a straight forward and understandable summary of the key non-accessible features, then we may make a charge for this, and will advise you accordingly.

Once we have provided you with the audit, you are then able to make a decision as to whether you would like us to rectify the website or whether you wish to make alternative arrangements using the information we have supplied.

Changes to a website can normally be expected to take between one day for a basic site and two weeks for a complex high-end one.

Our costs for a site rework are £350 a day.

Please call us on 01752 251199 or email us at access@carbonchip.com for information on auditing, making your site accessible or simply to find out more about the issues surrounding web accessibility.

Main Navigation

DIGITAL & WEB ACCESSIBILITY

So what actually is Web Accessibility?

Why is it so important to be accessible?

So who exactly does it affect?

How can we help?

Links to useful information on Website Accessibility.

Resources

Government

Legislation