[access-uk] access to websites
- From: "Derek Hornby" <derek.hornby_uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2005 00:58:17 +0100
Hi all,
I thought the following be of interest here.
Apologises for the long post.
From BBC news website
Phone sites fail disabled surfers
By law, firms must ensure that content is accessible to all users
Seven out of 10 telecom company websites fail to meet a basic level of
usability for disabled users, says a report into web accessibility.
The study by charity AbilityNet is part of its periodic evaluation of the
sites of the top 10 companies in a industry.
Under the Disability Discrimination Act, companies must ensure that content
is accessible to all users.
An estimated 12.5 million people in the UK currently have disabilities which
make it hard for them to view websites.
All the sites reviewed were invited to make a public commitment to
accessibility, but by the time of the report's publication only five,
Vodafone,
Kingston Communications, OneTel, Telewest and O2 - had chosen to do so.
Inadequate provision
AbilityNet rated each site out of a maximum of five stars using a mix of
automatic and manual tests.
An award of three stars means that the site reaches a basic level of
accessibility.
Out of the 10 sites investigated six achieved only two stars and the one
belonging to the 3G operator, 3, achieved the lowest possible mark of one
star.
The report highlights a reliance on JavaScript on 3's site and a page title
which reads "Welcome to 3" regardless of the content of the page as
particular
areas of concern.
A spokesperson from 3 said: "Accessibity for everyone is important to us
and if that is the case that we were awarded one star, we will take that
seriously."
She added that the web team was already looking at ways to enhance the
website,
and that they would take the findings into consideration and make the
website
more accessible.
The survey also showed reflected some positive developments.
Robin Christopherson, AbilityNet's web consultancy manager and author of the
report, was "delighted" with the four-star results of two telecommunication
companies, OneTel and Kingston Communications.
The report noted that a rating of four stars was very unusual, but that
there
is evidence that companies are starting to come round to designing
accessible
sites.
"We are now beginning to see examples of highly professional and accessible
sites that prove incontrovertibly that an organisation's website can and
should
be accessible to the broadest audience possible," said Christopherson.
All of the companies which scored lower than three stars expressed their
intent to take on board the report's criticisms.
SITE STARS
Four stars: OneTel, Kingston Communications
Three stars: BT
Two stars: T-Mobile, O2, Orange, Vodafone, Telewest, NTL
One star: 3
A spokeswoman for T-Mobile, which received a two-star rating, told the BBC
News website: "T-Mobile is committed to improving accessibility and
recognises the findings of the AbilityNet report."
"The website is currently being re-designed and is scheduled to launch
before
the end of the year, taking into consideration the guidelines under the
Disability Discrimination Act," she added.
NTL, which was also awarded a rating of two stars, said in a statement:
"This is a matter which we take seriously and we aim to gain more than two
stars in the future."
It also said that it would make changes to specific points raised by the
report soon.
Web standards
There are many ways in which websites can be inaccessible to disabled
people.
Many blind or visually-impaired people, for example, use a screen reader - a
piece of software which reads out loud a website.
But sites can contain levels of complexity in menus and style information
which can make it difficult for these screen readers to pick out important
content.
Flashing images and moving text can also trigger photosensitive epilepsy.
But there are less specific ways in which websites can be inaccessible.
Using small fonts, or designing the site in such a way that fonts cannot be
resized by the user, makes the site difficult to read for people with even
minor problems with their vision.
Studies carried out by the Disability Rights Commission have shown that
sites
which are accessible to disabled people score better in usability tests
across
the board.
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