Government Sites Fail Accessibility Test
The vast majority of government web sites are falling woefully short of their own, mandatory, accessibility guidelines according to a new survery.
Organisations which offer services on the web already have a legal duty to make their sites accessible under the UK Disability Discrimination Act. The Disability Rights Commission is empowered, by the Disability Rights Commission Act 1999, to instigate formal investigations aimed at eliminating discrimination and encouraging good practice in the treatment of disabled people.
Current guidelines for UK Government websites include mandatory compliance to the WAI ‘A’ standard and the Government’s own eGIF policy.
Black Widow carried out an independent evaluation into the levels of accessibility offered by twenty local government web sites. The index (or Home) page of each site was accessed against the WAI’s specification for Priority 1 Accessibility Level. An assessment was also made of potential web browser problems, compliance to international web coding standards and overall general accessibility.
- 60% of the sites evaluated did not reach minimum accessibility levels.
- 35% were either just below minimum accessibility levels or achieved minimal accessibility but still had serious problems.
- Only 5% achieved the UK Government’s guideline of WAI Priority 1 Accessibility Level whilst displaying signs of working towards Priority Level 2.
A copy of the full, 18 page, report can be obtained by contacting info@blackwidows.co.uk