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Accessibility

Accessibility is something that should be considered when creating any web site. In its introduction the W3C document on accessibility guidelines lists the following as possible issues for some visitors to a site:

• They may not be able to see, hear, move, or may not be able to process some types of information easily or at all.
• They may have difficulty reading or comprehending text.
• They may not have or be able to use a keyboard or mouse.
• They may have a text-only screen, a small screen, or a slow Internet connection.
• They may be in a situation where their eyes, ears, or hands are busy or interfered with (e.g., driving to work, working in a loud environment, etc.).
• They may have an early version of a browser, a different browser entirely, a voice browser, or a different operating system.

Providing accessable content is made easier by web standards such as XHTML and CSS but there are additional things that may need to be done. Making sure your site is accessible as possible is not just good manners, it may also be a legal requirement depending on the purpose and location of your site and audience.

There are existing European policies and laws that recognise the need for accessibility, making reference to the inclusion of disabled and elderly people; but they stop short of imposing such inclusion. These include the Electronic Communications Directives, the Universal Services Directives and the Public Procurement Directive.

Some Member States have passed their own laws. The one that goes farthest for IT is the UK’s Disability Discrimination Act, in practice demanding that websites are accessible to the public and that intranets are accessible to staff, albeit there is no obligation for goods to be accessible.

http://www.out-law.com/page-6124

The W3C document gives the following guidelines:

1. Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content.
2. Don’t rely on color alone.
3. Use markup and style sheets and do so properly.
4. Clarify natural language usage
5. Create tables that transform gracefully.
6. Ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully
7. Ensure user control of time-sensitive content changes.
8. Ensure direct accessibility of embedded user interfaces.
9. Design for device-independence.
10. Use interim solutions.
11. Use W3C technologies and guidelines.
12. Provide context and orientation information.
13. Provide clear navigation mechanisms.
14. Ensure that documents are clear and simple.

There is a lot of clarification and a site can self certify that it has met these guidelines to several different levels.

Our normal working practices mean that our sites are naturally highly accessible. However when being able to certify a site is important to a client we can take the extra measures to ensure conformity to the level you require.

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