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e-Accessibility Welcome Zoe Laycock – Web Manager 9 March 2006
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Accessibility for government websites. Case Study www.hounslow.gov.uk by Zoe Laycock.
Transcript of Accessibility
e-Accessibility
WelcomeZoe Laycock – Web Manager
9 March 2006
Overview
The Internet has led to substantial cultural transformation
Retail
Banking
Leisure activities
Government services
Social interaction
Overview
Internet Access in the UK
29 million adults
64% of the population (86% of these have home access)
12% of homes have broadband access – growing
And yet…
Disability Rights Commission Research
Serious accessibility and usability problems in over 1000 main service websites in the UK
81% of websites tested failed to meet basic (WAI – A) accessibility standards
Over 45% of problems encountered by disabled users of websites would not be detected by the automated test check points
UK snapshot
10 million disabled people in the UK
10 million potential customers
People with disabilities don’t live in a vacuum
Wide sphere of influence
Consequences
If you ignore the potential of accessible websites:
Lose out on potential revenue
Limit your organisation’s effective communication
Miss the opportunity for efficiency savings
Have negative publicity – sector reports
Be at risk of litigation
Accessibility makes sense
It makes sense…
Ethical Sense – age of corporate social responsibility
Legal Sense - DDA
Economic sense – maximises commercial success
Experience matters!
Growing realisation
Success of online service delivery & take-up is dependent on user experience.
Experience matters!
Websites that are:
Unintuitive
Difficult to navigate
Complicated
Unclear
FAILURE
e-Accessibility
Movement for change….
Legislation – DDA – legal framework
Government Recognition – 2007 Commission Equality & Human Rights
Awareness – industry participation in conferences
Standards – Launch of PAS 78 – Guide to Good Practice in Commissioning Accessible websites
Hounslow web project
Ongoing commitment to achieving high standards of accessibility and usability.
Effective:
Communications issue
Provision of customer service
Hounslow web project
Key Phases
Phase 1 – key features provision underpinned by compliant and well formed code
Phase 2 – focus on engagement, inclusion and increased take-up by improving website usability & enhancing the user experience.
Phase 1 features
Key assistive features
Compliant code – WAI AA
Speech enabled
Information availability options
Text only
Change contrast
Adjustable text sizes
Printer friendly formats
Change contrast example
Key assistive features
Compliant code – WAI AA
Speech enabled
Information availability options
Text only
Change contrast
Adjustable text sizes
Printer friendly formats
Browsealoud example
Phase 1 features cont’d…
Key assistive features
Access keys – enables navigation without a mouse
Interpretive and descriptive tags for images
Phase 1 features cont’d…
General assistive features
Various navigational options (main, breadcrumb etc..)
Powerful search engine for information retrieval
Phase 2
Engagement, inclusion through usability enhancement
User testing integral to further development process
Engagement Disability Forum participants
Website usability and accessibility ‘health check’ audits
Ongoing refinement and improvement of our website
Summary
Website accessibility and usability requires commitment
Continuous process of development
If carrots not convincing, then the stick is the DDA
