This primarily comprises users who are:
For example, Hyperlink s that can only be followed by clicking on them with a Mouse are impossible to use for those who can only use a Keyboard or screen reader to interact with their Computer . Information provided only in Audio format can't be accessed by people who are deaf, and if provided only in Graphic format information is invisible to people who are blind.
A wide range of Assistive Technologies are available to help people with Computer Accessibility on the Web. Examples include:
- Speech Recognition software, which can be useful for those who have difficulty using a mouse or a keyboard.
- Screen Magnification software, which magnifies what is displayed on the computer monitor, making it easier to read for vision impaired users.
- Keyboard overlays which can make typing easier and more accurate for those who have motor control difficulties.
- Screen Reader software, which can read out, using synthesised speech, either selected elements of what is being displayed on the monitor (helpful for users with reading or learning difficulties), or which can read out everything that is happening on the PC (used by blind and vision impaired users).
- Refreshable Braille Display s, which render text as Braille characters, usually by means of raising dots through holes in a flat surface.
However, in order for these technologies to be fully effective when users are browsing the Web, it is essential that websites are designed to be accessible.
In 1999 , the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) , part of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) , published the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG1) . These are generally accepted as the definitive guidelines on how to create accessible websites. Since 2003, the WAI have been working on a second edition of these guidelines (WCAG2), which are currently at the Working Draft stage (the first of three W3C Maturity Levels prior to becoming a Recommendation).
A growing number of countries around the world have introduced legislation which either directly addresses the need for websites and other forms of communication to be accessible to people with disabilities, or which addresses the more general requirement for people with disabilities not to be discriminated against.
- In the US, the Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires that Federal agencies and their contractors give disabled employees and members of the public access to information (including web sites) that is comparable to the access available to others; the Americans With Disabilities Act Of 1990 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability; and Section 225 of the Telecommunications Act Of 1996 requires suppliers to make telecommunications products and services accessible unless not requiring sigificant difficulty or expense. It is complicated, and dependent on case law, exactly how the latter two apply to Web site accessibility.
- In Australia, the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 was used successfully by a blind man in 2000 who took the Sydney Organising Committee of the Olympic Games to court because they had failed to ensure that the official website of the Sydney Olympic Games was adequately accessible to blind users.
- In the UK, the to accompany the Act does refer explicitly to websites as one of the "services to the public" which should be considered covered by the Act.
A growing number of organisations, companies and consultants offer Website Accessibility Audits . These audits identify accessibility problems that exist within a website, and provide advice and guidance on the steps that need to be taken to correct these problems.
A range of methods are used to audit websites for accessibility.
- Automated tools are available which can identify some of the problems that are present.
- Expert technical reviewers, knowledgeable in web design technologies and accessibility, can review a representative selection of pages and provide detailed feedback and advice based on their findings.
- User testing, usually overseen by technical experts, involves setting tasks for ordinary users to carry out on the website, and reviewing the problems these users encounter as they try to carry out the tasks.
Each of these methods has its strengths and weaknesses:
- Automated tools can process many pages in a relatively short length of time, but can only identify some of the accessibility problems that might be present in the website.
- Technical expert review will identify many of the problems that exist, but the process is time consuming, and many websites are too large to make it possible for a person to review every page.
- User testing combines elements of usability and accessibility testing, and is valuable for identifying problems that might otherwise be overlooked, but needs to be used knowledgeably to avoid the risk of basing design decisions on one user's preferences.
Ideally, a combination of methods should be used to assess the accessibility of a website.
- [http://www.searchandgo.com/articles/internet/accessibility-explained.php Web Accessibility Explained] - Indepth overview of web accessibility, development and legal standards.
- Accessibility articles from Nomensa Articles from Accessibility experts Nomensa
- Section 508 – requires U.S. government web sites to be accessible
- Disability Discrimination Act UK
- New York State Technology Policy P04-002 – Requires Accessibility of State Agency Web-Based Intranet and Internet Information and Applications, requires all State entity web sites to be accessible according to NYS standards which are a hybrid of Section 508 and the W3C's WCAG 1.0. Updates Statewide Technology Policy 99-3, which required sites to conform to the W3C WCAG 1.0, Priority one checkpoints only.
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