FYI - Web Access Guidance Is First Step To British Standard

I thought this would be of interest to EO members:

The first steps towards the development of a British Standard for web
accessibility have been taken by the British Standards Institution, with the
release of a 'Publicly Available Specification' (PAS) for consultation.

The guidelines will attempt to remind web developers of the importance of
web standards; set international web accessibility guidelines in a UK
context; and clarify areas of confusion such as the proper role of automated
tools and how and when to involve disabled people in site design.

Consultation will be open to government departments, manufacturers and
industry bodies. The guidelines will then be examined by a steering
committee comprised of accessibility experts, who can make amendments,
before publication at the end of the Summer. A final review process could
see the guidelines qualify to become a fully-fledged British Standard in two
to three years' time.

The initiative was set in motion by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC)
after its 2004 report 'The Web: Access and Inclusion for Disabled People'
found a lack of knowledge in the area and shortcomings in current
international standards
(http://www.drc-gb.org/newsroom/newsdetails.asp?id=633&section=1).

The DRC report found, of 1,000 British websites, 81 per cent failed to meet
basic criteria for conformance to web accessibility guidelines (see E-Access
Bulletin, Issue 52, April 2004).

Taken from e-access bulletin, a free monthly email newsletter' -
http://www.headstar.com/eab


_________________________________
Dr Andrew Arch
Manager Online Accessibility Consulting
Accessible Information Solutions, NILS
Ph 613 9864 9282; Fax 613 9864 9210; Mobile 0438 755 565
http://www.nils.org.au/ais/ | http://www.ozewai.org/2004/

Member, Education & Outreach Working Group,
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative
http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/

National Information & Library Service, Australia
A subsidiary of RBS.RVIB.VAF Ltd.

Received on Sunday, 22 May 2005 12:05:11 UTC