Re: Comprehensive WCAG conformance leads to accessibility for all irrespective of the technology used-any statement to prove this legally?

Amar,

it appears the solution is not universally designed. Please see UN's 
definition:

“Universal design” means the design of products, environments, 
programmes and services to be usable by all people, to the greatest 
extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design. 
“Universal design” shall not exclude assistive devices for particular 
groups of persons with disabilities where this is needed.

https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/article-2-definitions.html#:~:text=%E2%80%9CUniversal%20design%E2%80%9D%20means%20the%20design,for%20adaptation%20or%20specialized%20design.

The term "assistive devices" would include screen readers and is 
definitely not limited to NVDA.

In many European countries, the universal design of ICT solutions is a 
legal requirement, but I don't know what the situation in India is.

Best,

Till Halbach


On 14.09.2022 07:38, Amar Jain wrote:
>
>  
> Det er ikke ofte du mottar e-post fra amarjain@amarjain.com. Finn ut 
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>  
>
> Dear all,
>
>
> By way of a quick introduction, I am Amar Jain, a corporate lawyer and 
> a Certified Professional in Web Accessibility based out of India.
>
>
> We have a case going on for inaccessibility of our tax submission 
> portal. The vendor is Infosys, and the problem is that only those 
> issues that we are highlighting are getting resolved and comprehensive 
> audit is not being done due to commercial reasons.
>
>
> Further, there seems to be hard coding for NVDA, as the portal is 
> reasonably functional with NVDA and not with Jaws. The lack of audit 
> is also leaving behind persons with other disabilities.
>
>
> The argument of the vendor is that it is because of the architecture 
> of the portal which is why NVDA will be the only screen reader which 
> should be used for maximum functionality. Second argument is more 
> legal in nature, which is to say that current Indian standards only 
> restrict testing with NVDA which we can work around.
>
>
> We need to prove to the Court that a comprehensive WCAG conformance is 
> technology independent and irrespective of the technology that people 
> use, a comprehensive conformance will ensure widest accessibility 
> possible.
>
>
> Is there any document which backs-up this statement and is there any 
> precedent where comprehensive audit has been asked by way of a court 
> order?
>
>
> In nutshell, I need to convince the court that a comprehensive audit 
> is the only way to go, and a comprehensive conformance to WCAG will 
> not produce different results with different technologies in terms of 
> accessibility.
>
>
> Your valuable inputs will be greatly appreciated before September 22.
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Amar Jain
>
-- 
Best regards,
Till Halbach, seniorforsker / senior research scientist
Norwegian Computing Center / Norsk Regnesentral (NR)  |  http://nr.no/
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