Most websites fail people with disabilities
From the BBC News and here a study launched to coincide with the International Day of Disabled Persons has looked at top sites across a range of business sectors and found that only 3 complied in the most basic way with WAI Priority 1. They write that:
- 93% did not provide adequate text descriptions for graphical content, causing problems for visually impaired people;
- 73% relied on JavaScript for important functionality, making it impossible for an estimated 10% of Internet users using the Internet to access key information;
- 78% used foreground and background colour combinations with poor contrast, making it difficult for people with mild visual conditions, such as colour blindness, to read information;
- 98% did not follow industry web standards for the programming code, providing poor foundations for web accessibility;
- 97% used fixed units of measurement, preventing people from altering the size of text or comfortably resizing the page so that content can be easily scaled;
- 89% failed to use the correct technique for conveying document structure through the use of headings, making page navigation awkward for many visually impaired people;
- 87% caused pop-up windows to appear without warning the user, causing disorientation problems for people using screen magnification software.
These problems are really basic and it’s embarrassing that websites with these problems are being built today. One of the great things about the Internet is that people with disabilities can participate more easily, or ought to be able to.
My team asks if clients want an accessible site too. It’s the law in the UK, but still some say they don’t have the budget. Perhaps we should just make it a rule that we do it, every time.
