Is Your Website Legal?
Many companies think about advertising standards, copyright, and potentially libellous or corrupting
content when considering the law. But there is a law that affects everyone who deals with the public
in the UK, which came into force in 1995.
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) makes it unlawful to provide a
service that is not accessible to everybody. It is irrelevant whether the service
is provided with or without payment. The legislation is clearly applicable to information
and services supplied via the internet.
The implications for your organisation of having a website that is accessible to
disabled visitors is not just that you are conforming to the law. You will be building
a reputation as a company that cares, and delivering your message to a significantly
wider audience.
our aims are to make the internet a brighter place for people with all types of
disabilities not just physical disabilities but other types of disabilities as well.
The main standard that website should meet is the
W3C (World Wide Web Consortium).
Some of the other Standards which companies should be meeting are
WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative)
and
WCAG (Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines)
You can test your website to see if it meets the W3C Standard by
using the
Free Validation Service.