Webdev4biz.com site Accesskeys
Home – Accesskey 1
Portfolio – Accesskey 2
Accessibility – Accesskey 3
About – Accesskey 4
Pricing – Accesskey 5
Contact – Accesskey 6
Map – Accesskey 7
Map – Accesskey 7
Help – Accesskey 8
Portfolio website Accesskeys
Embleton Consultancy – a
Serene Room – s
Kool Kidz – d
Nostalgia Marble – f
ClICK HERE to return to the top of this page
Accessibilty
Developing accessible websites!
On the 1st October 1999 changes were made to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995
(DDA). From that date all websites have a legal obligation to be accessible! Further
changes have been made to the Act on the 1st Octer 2004, these include:
- small employer exemption removed. All employers are now legally obliged to make all their
services accessible including websites, intranets and extranets.
- service providers will have to make physical adjustments to their premises where these
features make it impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled people to use the service they
provide.
We develop all of our websites to be
W3C and
PAS 78: 2006
standards compliant. We
use Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML) for page
markup and Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) technology for web page presentation.
XHTML is the standard recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
Where possible we use XHTML Strict for website design, this allows for greater control
over documents viewed in a variety of browsers and other devices, e.g. cellular phones and
Braille devices, which leads to better accessibility and better accessibility leads to more
page views.
We always use Cascading Style Sheets(CSS), it allows the developer to change the appearance
of multiple web pages with ease, allows maximum flexibility and the removal of erroeous code
in a page which will improve accessibility.
We comply with the PAS 78:2006 recommendations for website accessibility whenever practicable.
The “Guide to Good Practice in Commissioning Accessible Websites” (PAS 78:2006) came into
effect on the 8th March 2006 having been developed by the
Disability Rights Commission(DRC) in collaboration with the
British Standards Institute (BSI).
Accessibility Quotes
The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability
is an essential aspect.
Tim Berners-Lee, W3C
Director and the inventor
of the World Wide Web
WWW Stated Case
Maguire V SOCOG
A disabled person can make a claim against you if your website makes it impossible or
unreasonably difficult to access information and services. If you have not made reasonable
adjustments and cannot show that this failure is justified, then you may be liable under
the Act, and may have to pay compensation and be ordered by a court to change your site.
A useful reference is the case brought against the Sydney Olympics Committee in Australia
in 2000. This resulted in a landmark decision against the website owners, requiring them
to pay $20,000 Australian dollars.
This response, I am satisfied, was very hurtful for him; the suggestion that he enlist the
aid of a sighted person to assist him was wholly inconsistent with his own expectations and
what he himself, unaided, had been able to achieve, both at university level and in business,
in spite of his disability. To dismiss him and to continue to be dismissive of him was not
only hurtful, he was also made to feel, I am satisfied, various emotions including those of
anger and rejection by a significant statutory agent within the community of which he himself
was a part
Judge Hon. William Carter QC