Net good enough

If you have a website, its accessibility for people with a disability is an issue that must be addressed now, for practical as well as ethical reasons.

It is best practice for housing providers to produce websites that are accessible to disabled users. Disabled people, be they tenants or members of the general public, rely much more heavily on the internet as a means of accessing information and services than other sectors of society.

But there is also a need to comply with the law. Under the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act, landlords whose websites fail to meet accessibility standards run the risk of legal action. The act does not explicitly mention websites and there is no relevant UK case law but the Disability Rights Commission, which has the lead on enforcement and dissemination of best practice in respect of the act, believes websites are covered because section 3 of the act refers to “access to and use of means of communication and information services” by the public.

Although the DRC says accessibility is relevant to anyone with a disability, guidelines published by other organisations – including the Royal National Institute for the Blind’s excellent See it Right guidance and the e-government unit’s guidelines for government websites – identify up to five key groups. These are: those with a visual impairment, a hearing impairment, an issue with movement or coordination, a cognitive disability such as dyslexia or learning disabilities and those for whom flickering or flashing images present problems.

The DRC recently did a formal investigation into the accessibility of 1000 sample websites. The results were published in its 2004 report The Web: Access and Inclusion for Disabled People. They included:

• only 19% of websites sampled met the most basic accessibility standards
• all categories of disabled user found that site designs took insufficient account of their needs
• there is a need to augment the most basic accessibility standards with additional requirements to meet the needs of disabled users
• automated testing against accessibility standards must be matched by qualitative and subjective judgments by user assessment.

The report is a clear warning that websites are on the DRC’s agenda. It is concerned that the majority of organisations commissioning websites have made little or no attempt to fulfil their statutory obligations under the DDA since the legislation came in. Legal action is virtually inevitable.

What standards apply?

Neither the 1995 act nor DRC provides direct guidance on accessibility standards for websites. There is an international standard, developed by the World Wide Web Consortium Web Accessibility Initiative. This contains 14 guidelines and a range of tests or “checkpoints”.

Although the guidelines are detailed and technical, the underlying requirements are quite straightforward. They say the design, technology and content of an accessible website should be:

Most organisations commissioning websites have made little or no attempt to fulfil their statutory obligations. Legal action is virtually inevitable

• easily “readable” by blind or partially sighted users with the aid of assistive technology. This includes pictures and graphic elements being meaningfully labelled, the text being in a legible typeface with a contrast between text and background and online forms that are easy to “read” and fill in
• easy to navigate. This includes movement using the keyboard as well as a mouse and transparency of the site’s structure, for example through the provision of a site map
• clear and simple in content.

At the very least, registered social landlords should aim for the Web Accessibility Initiative’s minimum standard. Compliance at this level is relatively rapid and cheap to achieve as a short-term measure. But of course, you should consider aiming to meet the full guidelines as a matter of best practice.

What do you need to do?

Ensure relevant staff are aware that your website needs to be accessible both because of the requirements of the DDA and because of good practice. Make sure they have

access to information and training to enable them to take appropriate action to ensure compliance.

If you do not have them already, put in place positive policies to promote inclusion in the delivery of electronic services.

Test your website using one of the automated compliance tools such as the one at http://bobby.watchfire.com but also with disabled people. You could also buy into a comprehensive audit, offered by groups such as the RNIB.

Consult disabled tenants and local disability groups over issues in using your website; provide an opportunity for users to give you feedback on accessibility issues and act on the information you receive.

Finally, periodically review the accessibility of your website – and your intranet, as your employees are also entitled to have accessible sites – in the light of evolving standards, best practice and guidance.