- From: Charles McCathieNevile <charles@w3.org>
- Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2002 12:13:51 -0500 (EST)
- To: "SHARPE, Ian" <Ian.SHARPE@cambridge.sema.slb.com>
- cc: "WAI (E-mail)" <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Ian, Actually I believe that the Americans with Disabilities act would also apply to the Web (it was the law under which an American blindness organisation sued AOL over accessibility of their service), and to more organisations thatn are covered by section 508. Definitely the equivalent Australian legislation applies, as shown by the case of Maguire v SOCOG - the "Sydney Olympics case". There are other countries with similar legislation - the UK and Portugal are two that I know of. I think the big issue is, as you say, awareness - not just of the fact that it has to be done, but also how it can be done. The Education and Outreach group of WAI - http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO works on promoting this information, and they have a page on policies that are known to cover Web accessibility in various countries. (I am not a lawyer - if you want real legal facts you need a skilled lawyer with experience of the particular area, or a very skilled one who can learn it) cheers Charles McCN On Fri, 11 Jan 2002, SHARPE, Ian wrote: Simon, couldn't agree more with your sentiment but sadly am not so confident that legislation will ensure sites are made accessible. As far as I'm aware only 508 in the US ensure sites/software purchased by US government be accessible. (That's my understanding anyway, maybe I'm wrong?) Even this limited legislation isn't even true in the UK. It should be!! And the rest!! The other big problem we have is simply awareness of accissiblity issues.
Received on Friday, 11 January 2002 12:13:55 UTC