Web Site Accessibility

Why Make Websites Accessible?
According to W3C, the governing body of the World Wide Web, up to 20% of people are affected by some form of disability. A significant portion of people with disabilities can benefit from web sites specifically designed to be more accessible.

The 1995 Disability Discrimination Act has made it a legal requirement for companies and organisations to ensure that all can access their services and information. This act directly applies to websites and Internet services.

" Your website must be accessible, it's the law "

Increasing the accessibility of your online communications will:

	Increase sales (if you have something to sell)
	Increase audience reach
	Improve search engine listings
	Reduce loads on your server
	Reduce load on server bandwidth
	Reduce site maintenance costs
	Ensure your site complies with disability discrimination law

Are there laws which affect web design?

Yes, there are two. These are the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act, and the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act.

What is the Disability Discrimination Act?

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) aims to end the discrimination which many disabled people face. This Act gives disabled people rights in the areas of:

Employment

Access to goods, facilities and services

Buying or renting land or property.

Items of legislation that apply to web site design are found within the access to goods section of the legislation and include the following:

Since December 1996 it has been unlawful to treat disabled people less favourably than other people for a reason related to their disability;

Since October 1999 they have had to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, such as providing extra help or making changes to the way they provide their services.

What is the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative Standard (WAI)?
The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative Standard (WAI) is a set of guidelines that have been devised by the W3C to assist developers and lawmakers in the task of enforcing website accessibility.

Most accessibility legislation throughout the world directly follows the official Web Accessibility Initiative Standard , specifying the documents and the version number; others have written their own versions or combined these with general usability or best practices guidelines. An excellent and current source for legislation and guidelines in different countries can be found at www.w3.org.

W3C recommendation, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 became a W3C recommendation May 5, 1999 and explains accessible use of Web technologies for page authors and site developers. It has three priority levels and three conformance levels, 14 guidelines, and over 60 checkpoints all of which can be found at their website.

What is the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act?
The Educational Needs and Disability Act became law on 11th May 2001. As a result, discrimination against disabled students in the provision of education, training and other related services is unlawful.