Website Accessibility

In Australia, Section 24 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) makes it unlawful for someone who provides goods or services, or makes facilities available, to discriminate against another person on the ground of the other person's disability.

Read Section 24 - Disability Discrimination Act 1992.

How Does Section 24 of the DDA Relate to Websites?

The DDA does not mention websites specifically. However, the Australian Human Rights Commission has issued Advisory Notes relating to the Act which assist individuals and organisations involved in the ownership or development of web resources, by clarifying the requirements of the DDA, and explaining how compliance can be achieved.

These Advisory Notes recognise the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, developed by W3C, represent 'the most comprehensive and authoritative international benchmark for best practice in the design of accessible websites'.

As such, our websites need to comply with the WCAG 2.0, Level AA standards.

Legal Precedent in Australia

The case of Bruce Maguire vs the Sydney Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (SOCOG) in August 2000 was the first legal case brought and won against a web content provider on the grounds that their website was inaccessible to the disabled.

Bruce Maguire, who is blind, was unable to access certain parts of the Olympic Games website because the site failed to provide text alternatives for images.

SOCOG were found to have engaged in unlawful conduct under section 24 of the DDA by providing a website which, because of his blindness, was significantly inaccessible.

Compliance with the WCAG 2.0, Level AA standards will ensure that Objective A2 of the University Disability Action Plan will be met. Objective A2 reads:

'the University promotional material and web site content is accessible for people with a disability'.

Our website needs to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Level AA standards.

Level AA means that our website will be accessible for most people, under most circumstances, with most technologies they use.

There are twelve guidelines that comprise the WCAG 2.0. These are:

1. Provide text alternatives for non-text content.
2. Provide captions and alternatives for audio and video content.
3. Make content adaptable; and make it available to assistive technologies.
4. Use sufficient contrast to make things easy to see and hear.
5. Make all functionality keyboard accessible.
6. Give users enough time to read and use content.
7. Do not use content that causes seizures.
8. Help users navigate and find content.
9. Make text readable and understandable.
10. Make content appear and operate in predictable ways.
11. Help users avoid and correct mistakes.
12. Maximise compatibility with current and future technologies.

When creating content in the University templates, please consider these W3C accessibility checkpoints:

1. Images: image descriptions should be used to describe the function of an image.
2. Multimedia: captioning and transcripts should be provided for audio, and descriptions should be available of video.
3. Hypertext links: the link text should make sense when read out of context, therefore avoid "click here".
4. Page organisation: maximise consistency of structure and use headings and lists for organisation.
5. Graphs or charts: summarise the content where appropriate.
6. Scripts plug-ins and applets: provide alternative content to allow for situations where active features are inaccessible or unsupported.
7. Tables: summarise content and ensure line by line reading is sensible.

NOTE: On 15 October 2012, the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) announced the approval of the WCAG 2.0 as an ISO/IEC International Standard.

In Australia, non-discrimination and the equal right to participate are held as strong moral values. Doing our best to ensure we have created accessible websites is an expression of those values and our social responsibility.

Web accessibility evaluation tools are software programs or online services that help determine if a website meets accessibility guidelines.

While these tools can significantly reduce the time and effort to evaluate websites, no tool can automatically determine the accessibility of websites.

Visit the Accessibility Tools page.

If you'd like to know more about website accessibility, you'll find plenty of information on the following pages:

• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0
• The Univesity of Adelaide Disability Action Plan
• Flash and Accessibility Problems
• Frames & iFrame Accessibility Problems
• PDFs and Accessibility
• Accessibility Basics by W3C
• Vision Australia - Ten tips for making your website more accessible
• Vision Australia - Web accessibility fact sheets