RE: public versus private sector websites (was Re: R: R: some initial questions from the previous thread)

Hi all
I would agree with Shadi on this, however there is a different impetus on organisations to comply with guidelines.  I am starting to see more governments impose deadlines and requirements on the public sector websites.  I don't know whether this is to start the ball rolling, so to speak - hoping others will follow suit.  In Australia at the moment, there is a huge emphasis being placed on first the federal government and then state and local governments through a national strategy.  To date, we don't have much enforcement upon non-government.  We have the Australian Human Rights legislation which enforces the Disability Discrimination Act under which websites fall, and which require WCAG 2.0 AA by December 2013 for all Australian websites, but enforcement is hit and miss.  It usually involves waiting until someone complains, and then grudgingly fix the website.

I believe we need to have a level playing field for website evaluation - regardless of the type of organisation.  When we have this standard, new and existing website developers will have something concrete to use for evaluation, and something that can be taught in universities etc.  I don't think we can look at different methods for different organisations and still have a usable set of guidelines.  Thoughts?


Regards

Vivienne L. Conway
________________________________________
From: public-wai-evaltf-request@w3.org [public-wai-evaltf-request@w3.org] On Behalf Of Shadi Abou-Zahra [shadi@w3.org]
Sent: Wednesday, 24 August 2011 4:02 PM
To: Roberto Scano (IWA/HWG)
Cc: public-wai-evaltf@w3.org
Subject: public versus private sector websites (was Re: R: R: some initial  questions from the previous thread)

Hi Roberto,

On 24.8.2011 06:48, Roberto Scano (IWA/HWG) wrote:
> Sorry for late reply.
>
> -----Messaggio originale-----
>> How would an evaluation of private sector website be different from a
>> public sector website?
>
> I'm talking about that needs for methodology of evalutation for conformance
> for public sector (organized by national laws) could be different from the
> private sectors. For example in our country we are approaching (in the next
> month) to have requirements to be conform to WCAG 2.0 and all the web pages
> must conform and there is need of methodology for evalutate both informative
> pages and services pages. These could be thousands of pages also for little
> customers (low budget) and law conformance is required in every contract so
> this evalutation must guarantee no contestation so there is need of a
> methodology that guarantee both the end-user and the developer.

I agree that in many countries public sector websites are subject to
different legal requirements than private sector websites.

But technically speaking, I think that both need the same evaluation
methodology. In other words, the QA process for evaluating websites
should have the same validity, reliability, and efficacy (also cost)
regardless of the context in which it is applied.

Best,
   Shadi

--
Shadi Abou-Zahra - http://www.w3.org/People/shadi/
Activity Lead, W3C/WAI International Program Office
Evaluation and Repair Tools Working Group (ERT WG)
Research and Development Working Group (RDWG)

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Received on Wednesday, 24 August 2011 08:25:27 UTC