Professional web design, Cumbria, North LancashireIn 1995 guidelines came in outlining how websites should be built to allow the disabled user similar levels of access to websites and Internet services that are automatically available to able-bodie people. These guidelines became mandatory in 1999 and were strengthened in 2000 and 2002; interestingly these legislative requirements applied to websites before the standards were applied to physical property.
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All of this now resides within the Disability Discrimination Act (link opens in new window). Recent research carried out on 1000 websites by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) showed that some 85% of websites failed to meet even the most basic demands of the legislation and as a result they have asked the Government for funds to start litigation against offenders. Book an audit of your website now.
To date the [RNIB (link opens in new window)] alone has brought over 40 prosecutions all of which have been settled out of court, consequently no case law presently exists however, it is believed that settlements have been in the five figures region. It is not the settlements that are causing businesses problems but the legal fees associated with the defence and the eventual public relations damage that can ensue once it becomes public knowledge. The Disability Rights Commission has announced that it intends to start legal proceedings against offenders if the matter cannot be resolved once a complaint has been made.
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 applies to websites as well as physical premises, and any size of business with a website can be seen to offer a 'service' via that website. So, it needs to be accessible e.g. usable by disabled internet users.
I can think of £50 billion reasons straight away, because that's how much disabled users spend a year in the UK alone. If you take the RNIB's calculations of the number of disabled or learning disabled people in the UK, then over 17million people are affected. They could be your customers, relatives or friends of your customers. Can you afford to turn them away?
To find out how we can help you give us a call on 015395 31338.
Absolutely not, your site can still have interactive elements, images, movies, audio commentary, animations, Flash (where appropriate) and lots of other interactive features. We can advise you on how to make simple but effective adaptations to widen the potential audience (without compromising the look and atmosphere you have worked hard to achieve), such as adding accessible alternatives to images, flash movies etc, adding audio alternatives to text, adding text alternatives for visual elements and making sure there are no barriers to disabled users accessing the site and enjoying the same quality of user experience that anyone else would.
We also ensure that the language of the site is as jargon free as possible, but that makes it more usable and accessible to just about everyone!
