Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Website accessibility

I just read an article on the BBC noting that most websites (97%) do not comply with accessibility guidelines for the disabled. This was a survey of over 20 countries and the article notes that here in the UK only 3 websites achieved the minimum required standards. This is a truly scary statistic and a reflection of our ignorance when it comes to understanding disability. The main issues regarding web accessibility are:
  • The provision of adequate text description to accompany graphics (93% failed);
  • Over reliance on java script for functionality. Java script is particularly hard to handle if you are visually impaired and using speech software (73% of all websites surveyed relied on some form of java script);
  • Poor color contrast. Again this applies to the visually impaired population - individuals with are colour blind. It is important not only to differentiate between colours but also between tones (78% of sites surveyed had poor colour contrast);
  • Programing code used was below standard. Apparently 98% of sites were substandard. I have to admit I know very little about this and cannot comment on it;
  • Inability to alter or resize the page;
  • 89% of the sites were hard to navigate;
  • Excessive use of pop-up windows leading to problems with screen magnification software.

Click here to go to the article.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Of your last posts, this subject is the most interesting… for me. Greetings, Mariana Cuentos.

Tara Deck said...

I agree that there is so much ignorance of disabilities, but how would you go about minimizing it?

http://www.brailleinstitute.org