User-Friendly Websites For All
Guidance on how to make websites user-friendly for disabled people has been launched by the British Standards Institution (BSI).
Following an investigation by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) which revealed 81 per cent of British websites are inaccessible to disabled people, the guidance document, PAS 78 Guide to good practice in commissioning accessible websites, was developed by the BSI and sponsored by the DRC.
The document is applicable to all organisations and is intended for use by those responsible for commissioning or maintaining public-facing websites and web-based services.
The document covers six key areas:
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The accessible website process: guidance on building an accessible website from commissioning and developing it, through to publishing and maintaining it. This also includes guidance on contracting web design and accessibility auditing services.
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Accessibility policy: its importance and how to define this for the website.
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Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines: their importance in the context of accessibility issues, what they mean and which ones to follow.
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Involvement of disabled people: in the requirements gathering, conceptual design and testing processes.
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Conformance checking: guidance on adhering to it.
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Additional accessibility provisions: elements additional to conformance to the WAI guidelines can be useful but should not be considered essential.
There are many benefits to using PAS 78 and some of these include: compliance with the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), the creation of accessible websites, wider audience reach, improvement of search engine listings due to accessible content, and the easy transfer of this content to other media such as interactive TV or mobile phones.
In addition, businesses that offer accessible websites are at an advantage as they have the potential to access the spending power of disabled people which is estimated at £80bn per annum.
Since October 1999 website owners have had a legal duty under the DDA to ensure that services provided via the web are accessible to disabled people. Despite this law, some of the 10 million people who have rights under the DDA are being affected by websites that fail to meet basic accessibility requirements.
“We need to ensure more websites can be used by disabled people and this document will play a key part in making that happen," says Bert Massie, Chairman of the DRC.
“Businesses and the web industry have a responsibility to ensure the web is barrier free to disabled people. It also makes good business sense. An accessible website is easier for both disabled and non disabled people to use and is bound to attract more customers.”
“This is a win-win situation with the PAS 78 guidance providing benefits for both industry and end-users alike," adds Mike Low, Director of BSI.
For more information on the PAS 78 guidance visit http://www.bsi-global.com/PAS78
To purchase a copy of PAS 78 Guide to good practice in commissioning accessible websites please contact BSI Customer Services on 020 8996 9001 or email at orders@bsi-global.com.
It costs £30.00 and is also available in the following alternative formats: braille, easy read, accessible PDF, large print, audio, DAISY and Welsh.
For more information on the Disability Rights Commission visit www.drc-gb.org
For more information on British Standards visit www.bsi-global.com/british_standards
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