Benefits of making your website accessible to disabled users – part 1: increase in reach

Written by Trenton Moss


The Disability Discrimination Act states that service providers must not discriminate against disabled people. A website is regarded as a service and therefore falls under this law.

Some organisations are changing their websites, but many are seemingly not makingrepparttar adjustments. Disabled people don’t access their website, they say, so why should they care?

The statistics onrepparttar 118741 number of users who may face difficulties in using your website are however quite startling:

•There are 8.6 million registered disabled people inrepparttar 118742 UK (14% ofrepparttar 118743 population) (http://www.drc-gb.org/whatwedo/aboutus.asp) •One in 12 men and one in 200 women have some form of colour blindness (nine percent ofrepparttar 118744 UK population) (http://www.iee.org/Policy/Areas/Health/cvdintro.cfm) •Two million UK residents have a sight problem (four percent ofrepparttar 118745 population) (http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/publicwebsite/public_rnib003680.hcsp#P16_1214) •There are 12 million people aged 60 or over (21% ofrepparttar 118746 UK population) (http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/pyramids/pages/UK.asp). At this age most people begin to experience a decrease in vision, hearing and physical and cognitive ability.

Although there is inevitably some overlap between all ofrepparttar 118747 aforementioned groups, adding up these numbers provides a total of 48% ofrepparttar 118748 UK population that could potentially face problems using your website. It is an extraordinarily high number.

Non-disabled people may also experience difficulties using your website. Not everyone is viewing your website onrepparttar 118749 latest version of Internet Explorer, with allrepparttar 118750 plug-ins and programs that you may require them to have for optimal access. If your website relies on images, Flash or JavaScript, and fails to provide alternatives, then a number of web users will be unable to access your website. The following examples are a common occurrence:

Web accessibility and the law in the UK: Is Your Website Legal?

Written by Trenton Moss


There has been widespread speculation aboutrepparttar new legislation that is being introduced, which will ensure that websites are accessible to disabled users. Trenton Moss, Managing Director of Webcredible (http://www.webcredible.co.uk), a web accessibility and usability consultant, says, “No seems to know what these new law require you to do. Try to find specific information aboutrepparttar 118740 requirements onrepparttar 118741 Internet and chances are you’ll come up empty handed.”

He has a point. The RNIB (Royal National Institute forrepparttar 118742 Blind) andrepparttar 118743 DRC (Disability Rights Commission), two ofrepparttar 118744 most renowned advocates for creating accessible websites, have no specific information aboutrepparttar 118745 laws and what websites specifically need to do in order to meetrepparttar 118746 legal requirements.

So, what doesrepparttar 118747 law state? Part III ofrepparttar 118748 Disability Discrimination Act refers torepparttar 118749 provision of goods, facilities and services. The Code of Practice, which specifically mentions websites, can be downloaded in its entirety fromrepparttar 118750 DRC website (http://www.drc.org.uk/open4all/law/Code%20of%20Practice.pdf 676kb).

The relevant quotes from this 175-page document are:

2.2 (p7): “The Act makes it unlawful for a service provider to discriminate against a disabled person by refusing to provide any service which it provides to members ofrepparttar 118751 public.”

4.7 (p39): “From 1st October 1999 a service provider has had to take reasonable steps to change a practice which makes it unreasonably difficult for disabled people to make use of its services.”

2.13 – 2.17 (p11-13): “What services are affected byrepparttar 118752 Act? An airline company provides a flight reservation and booking service torepparttar 118753 public on its website. This is a provision of a service and is subject torepparttar 118754 act.”

5.23 (p71): “For people with visual impairments,repparttar 118755 range of auxiliary aids or services which it might be reasonable to provide to ensure that services are accessible might include ... accessible websites.”

5.26 (p68): “For people with hearing disabilities,repparttar 118756 range of auxiliary aids or services which it might be reasonable to provide to ensure that services are accessible might include ... accessible websites.”

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