The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA), makes it illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities. This has applied to services provided via web sites since October 1999.
An independent accessibility audit can be used to check the compliance of your web site against guidelines that have been adopted as authoritative in European and UK legislation. These guidelines apply to both public sector and commercial websites.
If you are planning a new design, it is desirable to specify the accessibility standard required before the work starts, and make this a condition of the design contract. It is much easier to build in accessibility from the beginning than to try to add it afterward.
My accessibility audit involves checking the web site against appropriate standards and guidelines using a combination of automated tools and human interpretation. The site is examined using a number of different browsers, including a text-only reader and text to speech systems.
A full audit applies to every page of the site, while a short form review is based on a sampling of the site, and can be useful to provide an overview of the issues involved. Where a site is to be redesigned or re-engineered, the short form review can be carried out prior to briefing designers, with a full audit on completion to ensure that the required standards have been achieved.
On completion of the audit, you get a detailed written report that states the level of accessibility achieved, together with notes on any issues that need addressing. The technical notes indicate where any issues occur in the site, and include specific line numbers for each occurrence. The technical notes can be used by your designer for any rectification work.
The accessibility audit report contains the following sections:
As part of the audit, I provide a management briefing to demonstrate and explain the issues involved. This points up the key findings and enables the site manager to be aware of issues that may re-emerge as the site is updated.
Don't wait! If you're concerned about accessibility issues on your web site, get in touch now. I can help you, and there's no charge for a first meeting!
© 2004 to 2006 John Pye Consulting Ltd.
Providing affordable and accessible web site design, web site audit, Internet consultancy and internet marketing advice for small businesses in Stamford. Oakham, Uppingham, Peterborough and the surrounding districts in East Anglia, Lincolnshire, Rutland, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and East Midlands.