Introduction

On 23 October 2002 the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission issued a media release stating that non-compliance with the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines by the operators of Australian websites is a breach of the Federal Disability Discrimination Act - as well as equivalent laws in all Australian States..

There have also been a number of cases where web site owners have been sued by disabled users who are not able to use their website. The most well known Australian example is the Sydney 2000 Olympics Website case where a a blind user complained to HREOC about the inaccessability of the Sydney Olympics website. When SOCOG refused to improve the accessibility of the website they were ordered to pay $20,000 in damages.

Disabled users only make up a small proportion of the total number of internet users but making sites accessible for disabled users has a range of great "side-effects". Accessibility is not just about people with disabilities and being sued is not the only good reason for making your website accessible. Other good reasons include:

• having your website reach the widest possible audience; and
• making it easier to maintain.

The widest possible audience is reached by making your website work on the largest range of devices and as more and more devices are connected to the internet this is literally everything from your television to your mobile phone, personal digital assistant and your fridge. Following sensible user accessability guidelines when designing and implementing your site will result in a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience.

Accessible websites are also easier to maintain because the good practices that make your website more accessible for users also make it easier to administer.

Accessability Guidelines

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has released a number of guidelines aimed at increasing the accessability of websites generally. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 are presently the most important and can be found at www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/. The Guidelines are aimed at ensuring graceful transformation, and making content understandable and navigable.

Graceful transformation is about providing content alternatives for users whose hardware, software or abilities may not allow them to use a particular feature. The Guidelines are not intended to limit the use of new wizzbang Internet features on websites (although pages and pages have been written on why you should avoid some of these features).

A good example of graceful transformation is to use "ALT" tags to specify in words what a picture is about. This enables users that cannot see the picture to understand it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are the Guidelines difficult to comply with?

No. the Guidelines are not particularly difficult to comply with and they really reflect a mixture of common sense and good practice.

Does my website comply with the guidelines?

You can perform a quick and free check online using Bobby - bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/index.jsp - Bobby was created to help web page authors identify and repair barriers to access by individuals with disabilities.

How can I make my website compliant?

The process is quite straightforward:

• have your existing website audited. The aim of the audit is to produce a detailed report of the areas in your website that need modification to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
• use the report as the basis for a remediation plan to make your website compliant. Depending on the size and complexity of your website it may not be practicable to remedy all of the areas of non-compliance at the same time. In most cases a high level of compliance can be achieved quickly and cost effectively without compromising the look and feel and structure of your website.
• over time you can maintain or improve the accessibility of your website by making future content and design decisions that comply or increase the level of compliance with the guidelines.

What are the Section 508 Guidelines?

The section 508 guidelines from the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board) of the U.S. Federal Government are guidelines on disabled user access to government electronic information. For further information see www.access-board.gov/sec508/508standards.htm

What is the Australian position?

On 23 October 2002 the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission issued a media release which included the following quotes from Dr Sev Ozdowski, Acting Disability Discrimination Commissioner:

"Under the Federal Disability Discrimination Act - as well as under equivalent laws in all Australian States - it is unlawful to discriminate against a person on the grounds of their disability by having a website which they cannot access,"

"The World Wide Web Consortium has developed web access guidelines, and non-compliance with them by the operators of Australian websites is in breach of the Act"

See here for the full text of the media release and for more information.