The Blind Leading the Blind
From: Guardian Unlimited (UK) - 04/22/2005
By: Alex James

The Disability Discrimination Act requires U.K. Web sites to be accessible to
visually impaired users, and a recent Disability Rights Commission (DRC)
survey found that 97% of major online organizations were cognizant of the Web
accessibility problem; but although more than two-thirds of respondents
reported that they were taking positive steps to resolve the issue, another
DRC report estimated that 81% of Web sites do not comply with basic
accessibility needs. Theoretically, organizations with inaccessible Web sites
could be open to prosecution. Julie Howell with the Royal National Institute
of the Blind (RNIB) says awareness of the Disability Discrimination Act has
increased significantly among Web designers, and her organization is a major
promoter of the issue as well as a consultancy service for companies that
wish to make their sites more accessible to the visually impaired. Guardian
Unlimited chief technical strategist Stephen Dunn says his staff is trained
to consider Web accessibility, and he has consulted with RNIB and witnessed
demonstrations of screen-reading software. He feels guidance is needed in
regards to best practice, noting that "we need people to move from saying
there is a problem to saying what standards they could comply with." Best
practice for Web site accessibility guidelines are being composed by the DRC
with assistance from the British Standards Institute. Meanwhile, the
pan-European Enabled Initiative seeks to improve Web access through screen
readers and other technologies as well as give visually impaired users a
better understanding of visual content with equipment such as on-screen touch
displays. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1466741,00.html

Links:
Disability Rights Commission
http://www.drc-gb.org/

Royal National Institute of the Blind
http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/code/InternetHome.hcsp

An Interview with Julie Howell of the RNIB
http://www.miswebdesign.com/resources/articles/julie-howell-rnib-accessibility.html

81 per cent of UK websites are failing disabled people
http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/publicwebsite/public_pressdrcresearch.hcsp

Disability Discrimination Act
http://www.disability.gov.uk/dda/

Guardian Unlimited
http://www.guardian.co.uk/