Web Site Design: Accessibility & DDA Compliance

The law has changed, if you don’t change with it, you could be breaking it.  Recent changes in the law means that as a public or corporate body, you now have an obligation to make your web site accessible to screen reader technologies and a host of other standards.

View the relevant points in law from the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)

For some companies this will mean a simple design overhaul, for others, things may become more complicated. Your website may need functional elements or a design style which is not conducive to accessible design, which means you have to present content in multiple formats.

If your current or new web site is database driven, site wide changes can be made simple and any future additions published automatically to any number of design styles, DDA compliant or otherwise. We use what are know as ‘Cascading Style Sheets’ widely, to separate design and content and manipulate your content for both design and accessibility purposes. CSS has the added advantage of making site wide design changes far more cost effective when it comes to a design change. Your web site user facing pages can be redesigned without touching, or reproducing valuable content, which may have been archived over several years.

TVS will complete a free compliance report of your website upon request, client or otherwise.

Relevant Legal Information from the DDA

2.2 (p7): “The Disability Discrimination Act makes it unlawful for a service provider to discriminate against a disabled person by refusing to provide any service which it provides to members of the public.”

4.7 (p39): “From 1st October 1999 a service provider has to take reasonable steps to change a practice which makes it unreasonably difficult for disabled people to make use of its services.”

2.13 - 2.17 (p11-13): “What services are affected by the Disability Discrimination Act? An airline company provides a flight reservation and booking service to the public on its website. This is a provision of a service and is subject to the act.”

5.23 (p71): “For people with visual impairments, the range of auxiliary aids or services which it might be reasonable to provide to ensure that services are accessible might include ... accessible websites.”

5.26 (p68): “For people with hearing disabilities, the range of auxiliary aids or services which it might be reasonable to provide to ensure that services are accessible might include ... accessible websites.”

At the following link you can find more documentation