I don’t design web pages, so what do I need to know?

I am a designer – what do I need to know?

Much of the web is not accessible now

Access to web pages is covered by law

International Guidelines

Good Examples

Resources - Designing accessible web pages

 References          

I don’t design web pages, so what do I need to know?

 If you are involved in organising to have web pages written, or in making sure that equity measures are in place, there are four things that you should know.

1. Much of the web is NOT accessible now
2. Access to web pages is covered by the law
3. International guidelines exist which describe standards for accessible web design
4. Many resources exist to help designers design for access and usability

I am a designer – what do I need to know?

 Basically, you need to know the four things listed above and, of course, you need to have the information to be able to design for access, and check for access.

 So the resources that are listed for design and checking will be of particular interest to you.

Much of the web is not accessible now

 In 2001, a major study of access to the web by people with a disability confirmed what many people already believed – that the web was not very accessible to people with a disability.

 In a review of the study, John Slatin (2002) wrote that:

… the tests involved a total of 104 subjects and 19 Web sites.  The subjects included people who are totally blind, people with low vision, and people with impaired mobility.  There was also a control group of 20 individuals without disabilities.  The subjects with disabilities used a variety of assistive or adaptive technologies.

According to Slatin, the report found that:

w        Users with disabilities were about three times less likely to succeed in carrying out such routine Web tasks as searching for information and making purchases as users in the control group.

w        The control group of people without disabilities succeeded 78.2% of the time (still not a great result!), as against about 26% for the users with disabilities.

w        The figures for people using screen readers and screen magnifiers were even worse: 12.5% and 21.4%, respectively.  Slater pointed out that the subjects were not unskilled. 

w        These figures do not reflect incompetence or inexperience on the users' part.  Test participants who were blind had been using computers and assistive technology for more than three years.

As the report itself costs US$190 to download, we refer here to a review of the report.  The reviewer, John Slatin, summarises the major findings of the report as well as reviewing the report itself.  The review is very informative reading, and can be found at: http://www.rit.edu/~easi/itd/itdv08n2/review2.html

The report was written by Pernice Coyne and Jakob Nielsen and published by the Nielsen-Norman Group.  Beyond ALT Text: Making the Web Easy to Use for Users with Disabilities is available as a PDF file online at: http://www.nngroup.com/reports/accessibility/

Access to web pages is covered by the law

Provision of information and other material through the Web is a service covered by the DDA. Equal access for people with a disability in this area is required by the DDA where it can reasonably be provided. This requirement applies to any individual or organisation developing a World Wide Web page in Australia, or placing or maintaining a Web page on an Australian server. This includes pages developed or maintained for purposes relating to employment; education; provision of services including professional services, banking, insurance or financial services, entertainment or recreation, telecommunications services, public transport services, or government services; sale or rental of real estate; sport; activities of voluntary associations; or administration of Commonwealth laws or programs. All these are areas specifically covered by the DDA. (HREOC, 2002)

An example

The right to access information and services on the internet was upheld in a decision in response to a complaint against the Sydney Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (SOCOG) in 2000. 

According to the HREOC web site, the complainant, who is blind, complained that he was unlawfully discriminated against in three ways:

w        the failure to provide Braille copies of the information required to place orders for Olympic Games tickets

w        the failure to provide Braille copies of the Olympic Games souvenir programme

w        the failure to provide a web site which was accessible to the complainant.

Bruce Maguire, the complainant alleged that:

“… prior to the lodgement of his complaint with the Commission, he had on 7 June 1999 spoken to SOCOG personnel in the course of which he had sought information about the availability of the Ticket Book in Braille and had been told inter alia that ‘blind people can access information if it is available on the internet.’ He had replied, ‘That is not correct. We can only access information if it is presented in accordance with international accessibility guidelines. The SOCOG website does not comply with those guidelines, so a lot of information is not accessible to me.’  The reply allegedly was to the effect that a blind person would have to engage the assistance of a sighted person to assist him.”

The Commission consulted with experts in the design of accessible web sites, and determined that:

w        the respondent had engaged in conduct that is unlawful under section 24 of the DDA in that it has provided for the use of the complainant a web site which because of his blindness is to a significant extent inaccessible.

w        the respondent do all that is necessary to render its web site accessible to the complainant by 15 September 2000 by:

w        including ALT text on all images and image map links on its web site;

w        providing access to the Index of Sports from the Schedule page; and

w        providing access to the Results Tables to be used on the web site during the Sydney Olympic Games.

This information was drawn from:

http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/decisions/comdec/2000/DD000120.htm

HREOC Advice

HREOC has published Advisory Notes at:

http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/standards/www_3/www_3.html

Through these Advisory Notes, the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) is drawing attention to resources that will help authors and designers make their Worldwide Web documents accessible to the broadest possible audience. In these Notes HREOC provides advice about how web designers and website owners can avoid disability discrimination without sacrificing the richness and variety of communication offered by the Worldwide Web. (HREOC, 2002)

These notes are not guidelines or standards.  International guidelines for accessible web design are discussed later in this section under the heading International Guidelines.

Links to other useful resources can be found at:

http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/webaccess/index.htm