Accessibility Information Pack

The deadline for website accessibility was October 2004 and this affects all companies in all industries. Below are some interesting points that are relevant to your company’s site:

• The Disabled Rights Commission (DRC) conducted accessibility testing on over 1,000 UK public and private sector websites and published their findings. Stopping short of naming and shaming, they stated that "swathes of businesses may not be complying with existing equal access laws" and that it is "only a matter of time" before they face legal action from disabled consumers.
• One in seven people in the UK - about 8.5 million - suffer from some form of disability (Source: DRC).
• The world's first successful action over accessibility (Barry Maguire vs Sydney Olympics Organising Committee) netted the litigant just $20,000 in damages. But the legal costs and subsequent web development bill ran into millions.
• Accessibility isn't just about serving groups of disabled users: the same standards also enable web-access by phone and PDA. There will be 743 million people accessing the net through these devices by 2004 (Cahners In-stat Group).

ClearPeople have put together a very useful and informative pack on accessibility. You can open the document by clicking on the link: ClearPeople Accessibility Information Pack.