At a Parliamentary function hosted by the Minister for Culture and Heritage, Hon Chris Finlayson, on 11 July, we launched our “brief” on accessible websites. As blind people, we are unable to communicate and access information visually, and we may also be restricted in our ability to get out and about. The World Wide Web (with the use of adaptive technologies ) has opened many doors for us, allowing us to access the same information and carry out transactions independently in the same way as our sighted peers. It is particularly empowering to at last live in a world in which we can read our daily news, interact with others, do our shopping, pay our bills, manage our finances, apply for services and do many other things online with full independence.

Well designed websites make life better for everyone; however they can be particularly beneficial for people who are blind as we can access the same information with full independence and without being marked out as in any way different from everyone else. Some disabilities (such as deafblindness) can severely restrict a person’s ability to access information and interact socially; for these people, properly designed websites can actually be life changing, providing perhaps the only means to access everyday information and communicate and interact with others.

At a Parliamentary function hosted by the Minister for Culture and Heritage, Hon Chris Finlayson, on 11 July, we launched our “brief” on accessible websites. As blind people, we are unable to communicate and access information visually, and we may also be restricted in our ability to get out and about. The World Wide Web (with the use of adaptive technologies ) has opened many doors for us, allowing us to access the same information and carry out transactions independently in the same way as our sighted peers. It is particularly empowering to at last live in a world in which we can read our daily news, interact with others, do our shopping, pay our bills, manage our finances, apply for services and do many other things online with full independence.

Well designed websites make life better for everyone; however they can be particularly beneficial for people who are blind as we can access the same information with full independence and without being marked out as in any way different from everyone else. Some disabilities (such as deafblindness) can severely restrict a person’s ability to access information and interact socially; for these people, properly designed websites can actually be life changing, providing perhaps the only means to access everyday information and communicate and interact with others.

Unfortunately, the reality of our experience with many websites is more frustration than liberation. Too often we find websites that are not accessible.

New Zealand should follow the lead of numerous other countries and adopt specific legislation to uphold the rights of people with disabilities to equitable access to websites and online information. In the meantime, under the Human Rights Act 1993, Any organisation, commercial or non-commercial, when it provides goods and/or services, is obliged to take reasonable steps to avoid discriminating on the grounds of disability. Nowadays the fundamental language of the web, HTML, has developed to the point where developers can easily and efficiently create websites that deliver a rich and productive experience for everyone including people with disabilities.

Our brief is directed primarily at web developers, because their clients rely on them to understand the technology and know how to apply it to meet their needs. Developers must recognise that in most cases their clients are legally obliged to serve all members of the public without discrimination. It follows that developers have an obligation on behalf of their clients to know how to correctly apply today’s web technology to create websites that serve everyone, including people with disabilities.

The World Wide Web Consortium is not only responsible for developing the fundamental language of the web, HTML, but is committed to the principle that the web is for everyone. The language of the web, as it exists today, has numerous features for producing a rich, enjoyable and productive experience for everyone, while at the same time ensuring accessibility and usability for people with disabilities. The commitment by the W3C to open standards upholds the principle that the web is for everyone, and ensures the widest possible range of adaptive technology is available to help disabled people use the web. The W3C has developed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as well as a number of statements of best practice to help developers create websites everyone can use.

Websites that comply with these guidelines not only look and feel good to the public in general, but they work with a wide range of end user technologies. This includes adaptive technologies (such as a screen reader or braille display) to access the information on a site, providing feedback to the user via synthetic speech or braille. This allows blind and vision impaired people to independently access a website and interact with it.

In fact, complying with the guidelines benefits everyone because such websites will be more usable to a wider range of people. A well designed website that complies with the guidelines can vastly increase your potential customer base by enabling access by a wider range of consumers.

When developing a website, it need not be more expensive to ensure it complies with the accessibility guidelines. If you follow the right practices from the outset and use the appropriate tools, this will not only improve your efficiency as a developer, but they can help ensure your websites will be fully accessible with little extra effort on your part.

I urge all owners and developers of websites that provide commercial and other services to the public to check out our brief in full and make sure your websites meet the WCAG 2.0 guidelines. This will help make our technology-based society more inclusive.