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Web Accessibility - how legal is your site? By Ali Al-Azzawi
From Issue Five of our newsletter.
"The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect." - Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web
On 1 October 2004, the final stage of the Disability Discriminations Act (DDA) 1995 Part III will come into force. This will apply to service providers where physical features make access to their services impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled people. The Act excludes services not available to the public, such as those provided by a private club. However, as long as the services are available to the general public, the Act will be enforceable. This has wide ranging implications for the public and private sectors.
The Act applies to a wide range of people with sensory, mental or physical disabilities. This includes the blind or partially sighted, the deaf, those with arthritis and long-term illnesses and people with learning disabilities.
In the case of the provision of information (for example, directory services, information searches etc.), the information has to be in a format available to disabled individuals. In the case of buying and selling products and services, the individual has to be able to complete the transaction without limitation.
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is responsible for setting Web standards and has created the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). The purpose of this initiative is to define agreed and open standards for accessibility on the Web. This means that providers and users of information and services on the Web share a common platform or language for relaying such services. These are set out in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
Agreed standards and guidelines such as the WCAG make it very easy for Web companies to provide products that comply with the DDA Act without compromise. Furthermore, the use of products such as “Site Valet”, makes it possible to perform quantitative and qualitative audits of the degree of accessibility of any web site during its lifetime. This provides an added layer of quality assurance and reporting, suitable for both managers and technical staff.
Openia is an Internet services company specializing in web accessibility. Its products and services include full site audits, the drawing up of compliance plans with respect to the DDA 1995, and the creation of bespoke web applications and solutions that meet fully with current accessibility and usability guidelines.