accessibility
Of all UK households with internet access 86% had a broadband connection in 2008. (National Statistics Omnibus survey 2008).
People with disabilities have embraced the options now available to expand their horizons and increase their independence. The UK Disability Discrimination Act requires that owners of web sites ensure that their sites are accessible to people with disabilities.
Web site owners need to appreciate the difficulties faced by Users with both minor and severe disabilities. For example, some people have problems with their ability to see or differentiate between certain colours, so checks should be made to see if the site colour scheme or combination of colours might cause difficulties. Some Users may use software that reads the page content aloud, so a page with moving images is likely to cause issues.
accessibility and web site owners
The following are guidelines. However, there are growing numbers of cases of litigation against sites failing to show compliance. Although we recognize the need for accessibility in public places there are still large numbers of web sites which fail accessibility guidelines, often because there is lack of awareness of the need to pay attention to them.
The World Wide Web Consortium has produced a number of requirements, sub-divided into:
Priority 1 web sites must comply otherwise some users will find it impossible to access the site
Priority 2 - web sites should comply, otherwise some users will find it difficult to access the site
Priority 3 - web sites may comply, otherwise some users will find it somewhat difficult to access the site.
For a site owned by a public body priority 1 is essential but for the vast majority of sites Priority 1 is ideal and 2 and 3 show the site is trying to comply. To learn more visit http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/