First and foremost Bury MBC is a public service provider and so we have to provide information that is accessible to all sections of our community, regardless of ability.
The Disability Discrimination Act has brought about new rights for disabled people. Employers and service providers must not discriminate against a person for a reason connected with their disability. They must also make reasonable adjustments to the way in which they offer their services. This applies as much to web sites as it does to ensure that that wheelchair access to council buildings is possible.
But accessibility is not just about ensuring that disabled people can access information. It is also about ensuring that the wide variety of users and devices can all gain access to information, thereby maximising the potential audience and letting users experience the pages the way they choose to.
An accessible site is one that accommodates the full range of users. Designing for accessibility therefore means accepting that, for online information, there is:
- no standard information user, and,
- no standard device for browsing information
- information is available in alternative formats.
An accessible web site does not exclude anybody due to:
- their abilities, or
- the method they choose to access the web.
Accessible web sites prioritise clear content, structure and ease of navigation over frilly aspects of design, however they also need not be visually unattractive, nor are they prevented from using the latest web technologies, provided that all information is still accessible to users.
The web: access and inclusion for disabled people
The results of a formal investigation by the Disability Rights Commission, published April 2004, showed that more than 80% of web sites are difficult for disabled people to use. BBC news report on how websites are failing the disabled.
The Office of the e-Envoy insists that all web sites - central or local government - comply with the W3C's guidelines on accessibility, [www.w3.org/WAI/]. Bury's website is currently the Web Accessibility Initiative's Single-A standard www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG1A-Conformance.
We are currently working towards Level AA [www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG1AA-Conformance] and are striving to reach Triple-A as soon as possible www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG1AAA-Conformance.
