identitydesignwebsitedesign
accessibility
current UK legislation (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 implemented internationally.
It’s a good idea to consider this because accessible sites are faster, perform better in searches and won’t get you up in court. And because:
Er... It’s the law. The important bit in the October 2004 amendments is that ‘small employer exemption’ is now removed. (Government and public-sector sites have been obliged to comply since 2002). The only way I know of 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...
Modern websites.
Happily, modern Web Standards* compliant, accessible sites tend to be pretty well optimised for search engines. SEs ‘see’ websites in a very similar manner to the ‘screen-reader’ software a visually-impaired user will typically employ. Plus they work better with gizmos such as the iPhone.
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 you’re with me, forget about it.
Realistically, we both know you don’t want to know about this stuff.
That’s fine, you don’t have to, but your web designer should. Every Flying Solo site built since January 2005 has badges for officially meeting the required standards of all-round grooviness and accessibility. So you can sleep easy.
Built to guidelines from the W3C — basically the people who invented the web and some of their chums.
ooh, shiny…
Yes, it’s a row of badges
Any site I build is W3C standards-compliant and normally meets UK accessibility standards — although oddly enough, there’s no badge.
Given a number of my clients trade internationally, sites will also comply with equivalent European & US (Section 508 of the Americans Against Disability Act) requirements.
