TIP 17

Who Enforces UK Website Accessibility Laws?

Web Design, Accessibility, RNIB & The UK DDA

No one agency or organisation police the world wide web with a view to prosecuting any one website owner. Specific support organisations may approach you because a member of public has made a complaint or expressed adisatisfaction about your website or service. Here we look at some of the activity of the RNIB over the last few years and how they view the importance of compliance with the DDA.

RNIB

The RNIB believes that blind and partially sighted people have a moral as well as a legal right to be able to access web sites and services on the same terms as people who don't have disabilities. The RNIB has long been of the belief that the DDA legislation applies to services offered via the web. However, RNIB does not trawl the web in search of sites to prosecute, as some press articles may have led you to believe. Not only would this be resource intensive and expensive for RNIB, it simply is not in keeping with their policy, which is to do what they can within thier means to make designers and businesses aware of the importance and benefits of accessible web design.

But, blind or partially sighted people who approach RNIB on the basis of having found a web site they cannot use are not referred to the Legal Advocacy Service immediately. Instead, the Digital Policy Development Officer (assisted by colleagues) initially consults with the blind or partially sighted person to ascertain whether their own IT equipment is suitably up-to-date to be able to surf the web effectively, and whether the blind or partially sighted person has received sufficient training to enable them to use their IT equipment effectively.

Once it is clear that the blind or partially sighted person has the tools and skill to use the web effectively the web site in question is assessed for accessibility problems. The company responsible for the site (the site owner, in other words) is then contacted and alerted to the problems that a disabled customer is experiencing. There then commences a 3-way dialogue between RNIB, the visually impaired person and the company.

In 99% of cases the company is able to make the changes the RNIB suggest in a reasonable time and the matter ends there. Only if the RNIB are not able to reach a satisfactory conclusion via conciliation is RNIB's Legal Advocacy Team involved.

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