I'm currently writing a paper on e-learning and accessibility so the publication of the Disability Rights Commission report on the accessibility of UK web sites was timely for me. Read on to find out more. At present I've only read the introduction and summary to the report but it does make disappointing reading to know how few web sites are accessible. The report has 15 findings and recommendations in total, including reference to the extension of the WAI Guidelines themselves. WAI is presently developing its Working Draft on the version 2.0 of the Guidelines.
The Register provides a good summary of the report.
I was also interested to find a statement from the WAI querying the DRC's interpretation of the reports data, in W3C News. It makes an interesting comment:
“the report fails to account for the role of browser and media player accessibility, and the role of interoperability with assistive technologies, in ensuring that people with disabilities can use Web sites effectively.”
The report does draw attention to the lack of awareness amongst web developers about of the WAI Guidelines and how to apply them but I also think that, as the WAI statement points out, the role of Web browsers, media players, plug-ins, and other programs (user agents) has a big part to play in enabling web developers to create usable, accessible web sites. Or, conversely, as Derek Morrison's recent Auricle article illustrates, user agents can also sometimes make the process of developing accessible sites more difficult than it should be, e.g. by handling 'standards' differently.
Accessibility for all is something we should all be aiming for in every section of society not just web sites but, as this report shows, we still have a long way to go. Unfortunately.
