This article is extracted from Guidelines for UK government websites: Framework for local government, published by the office of the e-envoy
The Disability Discrimination Act requires that services on all websites should be made accessible. Failure to do so could lead to prosecution for a breach of the act. UK government policy is for conformance with WAI guidelines is to level A, following Priority 1 recommendations. This is likely to be raised by European legislation to level AA.
To ensure conformance to the WAI accessibility standards local authorities should make this a contractual condition in any contracts with third-party suppliers of web-enabled software or web content.
The style and manner in which services are provided - including text, navigation, and even the choice of file formats for downloading - should be tailored to the needs of local people. The only way of ensuring this is to get users to test your content, and objectively record whether they can find, understand and successfully use all that your website has to offer.
Even before user testing, consider the good advice already available, based on user research. Text should be in plain language. It should be short, scannable, broken up by unambiguous (rather than clever) subheads, and by bullet-point lists.
Upper levels of the website should quickly make clear to users what is on offer and whether it is relevant to them. Lower down in the site, text and design should aim to communicate main messages and explain services simply and quickly. Providing downloads of official documents will meet the needs of some users, but you should ensure that all content written for the website has been written for the public and for the medium.
When gathering website content, there is a tendency to publish information originally intended for a brochure. Sometimes the brochure itself is provided in a digital format, called Portable Document Format (PDF). Certainly, this is a quick and inexpensive way to get information online, but remember that PDFs cannot be displayed on digital television or at most kiosks. PDF files generated by recent software can be accessed by people with disabilities, but only if they have recent versions of reader and assistive technology.
Older PDF files may not be searchable by some search engines, and so will remain inaccessible to even the most well-equipped user. For all these reasons, alternatives to PDF files should always be provided. HTML and plain text can be accessed by more or less everybody.
This document contains Crown copyright material, reproduced under the terms of Crown Copyright Policy Guidance issued by HMSO. First published by the Office of the e-Envoy, June 2003.
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