Web accessibility in compliance with Disability Discrimination Regulation

First the USA introduced Section 508 by giving the possibility to take criminal action against inaccessible websites. In March 2002, the European Parliament, stating the importance of the accessibility of websites for the participation and emancipation of disabled people in general, accepted a resolution 'asking' the European institutes and the member states to make all their websites accessible before 2003.
In UK, web accessibility is a legal requirement, regulated by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
The act ensures, among the rest, that websites are accessible to blind and disabled users, however, in practice, the law is unclear on how this should be implemented.
The code of practice contains specific reference to websites. The relevant quotes are:

• 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.”

Section III of the DDA, which refers to accessible websites, came into force on 1st October 1999 and the Code of Practice for this section of the DDA was published on 27th May 2002. This means that the majority of websites have been in breach of the law for over five years.

Companies in breach of the law can be sued: The RNIB (Royal National Institute for the Blind) has approached two large companies with regard to their websites. The DRC (Disability Rights Commission) launched a formal investigation into 1000 websites, of which over 80% were next to impossible for disabled people to use.
Most likely, the W3C (Worldwide Web Consortium) accessibility guidelines will be used to assess a website's accessibility.
The W3C offers three different levels of compliance. Priority 1 guidelines, (which must be satisfied according to the W3C) will almost certainly have to be adhered to. Priority 2 guidelines (which should be satisfied and are the EU recommended level of compliance), or some part of, will probably need to be adhered to too.


Main source: Webcredible