RE: FW: [techlunch] Website owners face prosecution

Jens, Gang,

From what I am aware in the UK the legislation is as such. The
Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 is in three parts. All the
interpretations I have seen (not being a lawyer) suggest Part III covers
general accessibility in web sites. However to my knowledge part III
does not come into effect until Oct 2004. Also I would imagine as with
more conventional (or at least physical) forms of accessibility a
certain amount of leeway will be in place for existing sites to get
their act together, new sites being expected to be accessible from the
get go. However what is interesting in Britain is the only formal
references (again to my knowledge) to reasonable standards of
accessibility are in UK Govt. web site guidelines which are not
legislative. These list several criteria of accessibility and give WCAG
1.0 as a reference but do not specifically insist on any level of
conformance. This might of course be over ruled by the EU which does
specifically use WCAG 1.0 as a measure. One does wonder what level of
conformance will be obligated since I myself feel that WCAG 1.0 triple-a
conformance is eminently possible, obvious other parties don't agree
(take section 508, WCAG 1.0 a with skip nav).

Just some thoughts and perhaps a little information,


Tom

-----Original Message-----
From: w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org] On
Behalf Of Jens Meiert
Sent: 24 September 2003 06:38
To: w3c-wai-gl@w3.org
Subject: Re: FW: [techlunch] Website owners face prosecution


(Thank you, John)

Well, although almost everyone subscribed to this list is an
Accessibility
protectionist, I'm really struck by this article -- this can't be true.
Is
this a job-creation measure, or a method to punish either unaware or
unexperienced site producers/owners? Is it something else, e.g. a
technology blockade by
declining everything not 100% accessible (okay, chuck away Flash)?

I don't think Accessibility or Discoverability matters should be a
duty-by-law, but a kind of altruistic (I don't do it for me, I do it for
other people)
option and a self-imposed duty related to the thought there are people
who
are not that competent to make content accessible for everyone (right
now).
And remember, when you created your first Web page, did you think about
(color)
blind people or other disabled Web users? I didn't, sorry (so I'm glad
to
see I'm not in prison right now).

Last but not least, I think W3C's way is best -- to (strongly) recommend
Accessibility to all Web site owners or content providers, alluding to
all
people who cannot handle blinking screens with grey-on-black text and
who want to
know what 150k image adorns the upper part 'above the fold'.


Don't get me wrong,
 Jens.


PS.
This is one of the topics I definitely don't need before having had
breakfast.



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Sharron Rush [mailto:srush@knowbility.org] 
> Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2003 1:58 pm
> To: techlunch@smartgroups.com
> Subject: [techlunch] Website owners face prosecution
> 
> 
> ** Website owners face prosecution **
> RNIB takes action over websites which fail to comply with new laws on
> ease of use for people with disabilities. <
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/england/norfolk/3117050.stm >
> 
> Andrew Sinclair
> BBC Look East reporter
> 
> Ensuring web sites are easy for disabled people to use is no longer an
> option - it is a legal obligation. The Royal National Institute of the
> Blind in Peterborough is warning that anyone running a site faces
> prosecution if they fail to comply with the law.
> 
> Mark Smith is blind and a great fan of the internet. Using voice
> recognition software he spends hours surfing the net. Many of the
sites
> he showed me were easy to navigate but not all of them. When we find a
> site for a well known tourist attraction in Norfolk there are graphics
> and pop-up windows.
> 
> "It can be quite confusing," Mark said.
> 
> "Often there can be difficulties with graphics on the screen,
sometimes
> there aren't always text labels and sometimes websites are so large
you
> spend some time having to manipulate your speech programme to find the
> information you need."
> 
>   Adapted keyboards which allow people to use Braille when they type
and
> special software to enlarge the screen allows access to a world of
> information.
> 
> "It's quite exciting because we can get much more of what we need when
> we need it, " says Richard West, of the Norfolk and Norwich
Association
> for the Blind.
> 
> "But now we've got to learn how to manage all the information that's
> available."
> 
> Under new legislation websites must be easy for disabled people to
> navigate.
> 
>  From their offices in Peterborough Julie Howell of the Royal National
> Institute of the Blind has begun to prosecute organizations whose
sites
> fall short.  "Companies would be really wise to think about this now,"
> she said. "Opening up a website to more people shouldn't mean stifling
> creativity - it should bring firms so much more business."
> 
> "A lot of companies haven't done anything about it yet. You can't
avoid
> this. It is the law and it's enforceable," said Peter Ballard, of
> Foolproof, a company in Norwich which advises companies on web page
> design. He said ensuring a site is disabled user-friendly is not as
> daunting as it sounds.  Fancy graphics and flash technology are fine
as
> long as it can still be read by basic software.  The new legislation
> applies anyone who runs a website - individuals or companies. There
are
> signs that some webmasters are beginning to get the message - but many
> have not and the RNIB is planning to step up its prosecutions until
all
> websites are user-friendly.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> 
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> 


-- 
Jens Meiert
Interface Architect

http://meiert.com

Received on Wednesday, 24 September 2003 02:34:52 UTC