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Accessibility & The DDA
Some of you may already be aware that the last part of the DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) came into force in October 2004. There are other, equivalent, standards being implemented internationally.
Accessibility issues, Web Standards and CSS layout are all inter-linked. The theory and technology might not interest you, but the benefits are very real.
It's a good idea to consider this now because I can build sites which are faster, cheaper, perform better in searches and won't get you up in court. And because:
1] Er... It's the law. For most of my clients, the important bit in the October 2004 amendments is that 'small employer exemption' is now removed.
Government and institutional sites have been obliged to comply since 2002. The only way to remain exempt is to declare yourself as a regiment of the British Army (armed forces websites are still excluded) but that seems a little extreme...
2] The means of improving accessibility, which have existed for some time, are now fairly well supported by virtually all modern browsers. Version 7 of Internet Explorer offers improved performance in this respect (version 6 lags some way behind newer 'state-of-the-art' browsers such as FireFox and Safari, both of which are gaining market share).
3] There are other benefits:
a - CSS-based sites built to improved accessibility standards are also a lot more Search Engine friendly. SEs 'see' websites in a very similar manner to the 'screen-reader' software a visually-impaired user will typically employ.
b - sites load more quickly, because the files which control the structure and appearance of your site are completely separate from the content, and need only be downloaded once, rather than as part of every page.
c - sites are more usable by viewers with PDAs, phones and gizmos such as the Blackberry – previously it's often been necessary to build a different version of a site for these users – and viewers accessing the web via devices other than a conventional PC. Devices like Sony's PSP are increasingly used to access the web, and the browsers in all these gizmos are not as sophisticated as those on desktop computers.
d - sites have improved compatibility with either a full CMS (content management system) or a product such as Adobe Contribute, so updating content yourself becomes easier. Which could save you money.
So. Do you have to do this right now?
Probably not. But the next time you consider making substantial updates to your site(s) I'd recommend you should.
The DDA states a commercial site "has to take reasonable steps to change a practice which makes it unreasonably difficult for disabled people to make use of its services.
Otherwise we'll sue your ass..."
(Okay, I admit it, I added the last bit).
If I ignore this, will it go away?
No. From a technical point of view, although a lot of the 'traditional' methods of building sites are now 'deprecated,' browsers will of necessity continue to support 'old-style' sites for some considerable time. (But then again, nobody broadcasts black & white TV any more...)
Legally, it's a different matter. It's unlikely that the Disability Rights Commission are targetting your site right now – given that about 80% of all sites currently fail to meet basic accessibility standards.
But if the question is 'theoretically, could I be sued?' then the answer is probably 'yes.' So you're going to have to consider it sooner or later.
Food for thought?