[thelist] UK: Disability Discrimination and Web Site Design (wasDropdowns - good or bad?)

[Richard H. Morris]

I wrote:

> -----Original Message-----
> I've since taken this up with the Disability Rights Commission for their
> definitive answer.

The Disability Rights Commission responded as follows:

Dear Mr Morris,

On November 23rd, you e.mailed the DRC Helpline to get a definitive answer
on the question of website accessibility.

I have consulted with the legal department and they have forwarded a written
response to your query. The response has been attached below.

 <<Access to the Web.doc>>

I hope you find this information useful.

Kind regards

Philippa Bullen
(DRC Helpline)

The attachment states:
"A Web Site is a Service to the general public and as such is subject to
Part 3 of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) inasmuch as it is "access
to and use of Communication and information services" - 19(3)(b) and (c).
 Part III makes It unlawful for a Service provider to discriminate against a
disabled person by deliberately not providing a service to the disabled
person which he provides generally to members of the public. It should also
be noted that the Act states expressly that it is irrelevant whether a
service is provided on payment or without payment.

Section 21 of the Act, implemented on 1 October 1999, places a duty on
service providers to review their practices, policies and procedures so that
where it is impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled people to make
use of a service, the Service Provider must take reasonable steps to change
that practice, policy or procedure so that it no longer has that effect.
This has significant implications for website providers. However, there is
provision for justification; it  would for example, be legitimate for a
Website to be inaccessible for a disabled person but only for real and
objectively demonstrable reasons e.g. a Web Site provider is unable to
provide means of access for a disabled person.  If the Website provider
fails to make sites accessible and is a sizeable enterprise e.g. a
Government Agency or a Bank, a disabled person might consider n action in
the County Court for lack of accessibility.

In the light of the obligations created by the DDA and indeed of the
potential justification available to service providers, it is fair to say
that much which is already established as good practice within the industry
is likely to be regarded as lawful.
More generally, it is clearly desirable that the Industry as a whole works
towards enhancing disability awareness and encouraging an understanding of
the obligations created by the DDA. In this respect, the industry itself
should aim to promote best practice standards that paid due regard not just
to the letter but to the spirit of the DDA.

There a are throughout the World , many initiatives, guidelines and policies
concerning Website accessibility.  A useful introduction would be via
WWW.W3C.org."

This pretty much backs up what Martin Burns was saying.

So it looks as though maybe 99% of UK Business web sites contravene the
DDA...

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Richard H. Morris, Director, Web Designers Ltd
        http://www.web-designers.co.uk
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
        Registered in England No 3506389
                  Registered Office:
3 Church Street Wymondham Norfolk NR18 0PH
                   Trading Address:
  4 Maden Close Wymondham Norfolk NR18 0UA
               T: +44 (0)1953 606158
               F: +44 (0)1953 606185
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