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PAS 78 Now Free!

PAS 78: Update 2008- Now free to download (as opposed to £30) from the DRC.

This publication provides guidance to organisations in how to go about commissioning an accessible website from a design agency. It describes what is expected from websites to comply with the UK Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA), making websites accessible to and usable by disabled people.

Download FREE:

• PAS78 (pdf)
• PAS78 (Word)
• PAS78 (rtf)

More recently the UK Government issued a consultation document on Delivering Inclusive Websites to ‘improve’ commissioning a new website.

• Delivering inclusive websites (PDF) [PDF, 210KB]
• Delivering inclusive websites (Word) [MS Word, 353KB]

PAS 78

PAS 78: Guide to good practice in commissioning accessible websites. (more…)

We've recently updated our comments policy and increased the number of comments a visitor has to make to get seo friendly links in comment signatures to reward long term readers and make it a bit harder for dofollow spammers ;) - I told you dofollow spamming wasn't a long term strategy....

Website Design – What Are My Obligations Under The UK DDA?

Broadly speaking, the UK DDA makes it unlawful to discriminate against disabled people in the way in which you recruit and employ people; provide services; or provide education. Discrimination can take place in two ways – by treating a disabled person less favorably; and/or by failing to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ so that disabled people can participate in employment and education or make use of a service. (more…)

Jakob Nielsen is a world renowned usability expert who developed the Top Ten Website Design Mistakes in the 1990′s. His Alert Box is an email newsletter that keeps you up to date with the latest website usability news and I am still subscribed to it. (more…)

The RNIB operate the ‘See it Right’ programme, which you can employ to test the accessibility of your website.

The RNIB See it Right accessible website checkpoints are taken from the WAI guidelines. Accessibility101 build websites using the same guidelines but build the sites to a higher compliance with the guidelines than the RNIB.

See it Right checkpoints set a standard of accessibility exceeding WAI single ‘A’ and close to WAI ‘AA’. (more…)

The RNIB operate the Campaign For Good Website Design in attempt to raise the profile of accessible website design for all. (more…)

There are two versions of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). WCAG 1 contains 14 main guidelines with a total of 65 in all. WCAG 2, still in draft format, has reorganised and combined many of the WCAG 1 guidelines to create 21 new ones.

Each guideline has a one or more ‘checkpoints’ which developers should consider to ensure the accessibility of a Web page. Each checkpoint has a priority level based on its impact on Web accessibility. (more…)

The Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) are at the forefront of promoting accessible website design, and Accessibility101 acknowledge the achievements of the organisation. (more…)

The Website Accessibility Initiative (WAI) outlines the international guidelines on accessible web design.

The WAI is affiliated with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and works with organisations around the world to increase the accessibility of the web through five primary areas of work: technology, guidelines, tools, education and outreach, and research and development. (more…)

The W3C was started in 1994 to lead the Web to its full potential by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability. (more…)

PAS 78: Update 2008- Pas78 – Now free to download (keep a look out for BS 8878).

There’s a lot to learn about accessible website design. Here we present some of the facts about web accessibility in the UK, a beginners guide for dummies. **** Note We have just moved this archive to this site – over the next couple of months we are checking the information provided (22 Jan 2008) ****** (more…)