Site Accessibility

[#1]

Hi All
I think that it is time to discuss site Accessibility.  Under The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 all web sits must comply with the Act.  If you billed sites you must comply with the Act or own a web site you must comply with the Act as well.
[Edit]
FAQ
Question:
I have my own site do I have to comply with the Act.
Answer:
Yes you do! If you provide a service thats in The European Union.
Question:
I have a personal web site do I have to comply with the Act.
Answer:
Yes you do! If you provide a service thats in The European Union.
Question:
I have a personal web site on my hobbies do I have to comply with the Act.
Answer:
No. But if you have a forum it is debatable that you should comply with the Act.
Question:
I have a personal photo album on my web site do I have to comply with the Act.
Answer:
No. But if you have a forum it is debatable that you should comply with the Act.

[#2]

It's not quite as straight forward as that:
I think you're talking about the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (The 2005 Act looks to me like being primarily an amendment act).  The 1995 Act is:
An Act to make it unlawful to discriminate against disabled persons in connection with employment, the provision of goods, facilities and services or the disposal or management of premises; to make provision about the employment of disabled persons; and to establish a National Disability Council. 
That means as far as running a business where you're offering to supply goods or services (which includes Plusnet of course) is concerned, the law will apply.
Will it apply to a personal web site set up by me to display my hobby?  I don't think so.
Will it apply to these fora?  Possibly not.  Arguably they have nothing to do with the provision of Plusnet's  service.
(just opening the discussion :D)

[#3]

Hi Gary
Can I suggest a change to the Poll;
"Do you have difficulty accessing/reading web sites"
A person in a wheel chair may have no issue accessing web sites, but one with a sight impairment, and many of us wear glasses may have issues reading small text.
And a dyslexic or colour blind person may dislike coloured backgrounds.
Chilly

[#4]

Usres mat want to go here for more information. I believe that PN does not conform to the coding standards as I can't see any of the logo's.
The USA have similar laws and I believe same of the bigger websites that are not catering for the disabled are locked into court cases. When I looked at this a couple of years ago I believe that test cases were being put together for the English courts.

[#5]

Not being familiar with the Act I went here to read it http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1995/plain/ukpga_19950050_en#pt3-pb1-l1g19
and the only part which could refer to websites is Section 3 Discrimination in Other Areas which states

Quote

Discrimination in relation to goods, facilities and services (1) It is unlawful for a provider of services to discriminate against a disabled person— (a) in refusing to provide, or deliberately not providing, to the disabled person any service which he provides, or is prepared to provide, to members of the public; (b) in failing to comply with any duty imposed on him by section 21 in circumstances in which the effect of that failure is to make it impossible or unreasonably difficult for the disabled person to make use of any such service; (c) in the standard of service which he provides to the disabled person or the manner in which he provides it to him; or (d) in the terms on which he provides a service to the disabled person. (2) For the purposes of this section and sections 20 and 21— (a) the provision of services includes the provision of any goods or facilities; (b) a person is “a provider of services” if he is concerned with the provision, in the United Kingdom, of services to the public or to a section of the public; and (c) it is irrelevant whether a service is provided on payment or without payment. (3) The following are examples of services to which this section and sections 20 and 21 apply— (a) access to and use of any place which members of the public are permitted to enter; (b) access to and use of means of communication; (c) access to and use of information services; (d) accommodation in a hotel, boarding house or other similar establishment; (e) facilities by way of banking or insurance or for grants, loans, credit or finance; (f) facilities for entertainment, recreation or refreshment; (g) facilities provided by employment agencies or under section 2 of the [1973 c. 50.] Employment and Training Act 1973; (h) the services of any profession or trade, or any local or other public authority.

I believe that this is quite clear in its intention and limits that it does not apply to websites which are not providing a service as defined in the act. Unless a reference can be provided showing that my understanding is incorrect I would suggest that the statements under FAQ by the OP be amended or removed.

[#6]

A better link from the RNIB. PN portal will fall under the act as this is providing a service, i.e. account management and T&C's. The latter I believe is only available on the website as PN have never been prepared to send these by post.

[#7]

Are Underlined Blue links on a salmon background good?
The RNIB need to have a look at their own website.
I commend the Font size options in the top right, but No High contrast CSS.
Chilly

[#8]

I agree Oldjim.  The quote in italics in my previous post is the preamble to the Act, and makes it quite clear that it relates to the provision of a service (or goods).  As has been argued previously, the portal site may be included in this, since it allows customers to manage their accounts, and is therefore part of the service, however (again arguably) the commmunity site may not be part of the service.
Having said that any company I would suggest would want to provide a site that users can ....  er  .... use, and that includes people with sight problems.  However my experience is that there are ways that people deal with this (accessibilty options, magnifiers an so on).  I personally would not want a site that has only high contrast colours all the time, even though for some users, it's the only way to access the site.

[#9]

Hi Oldjim I have modified the FAQ. 
As requested I have changed the poll question. 

[#10]

I came across this link on PlusNet's old forum Accessible Information from: Royal National Institute of Blind People.

Quote

Summary: Guidelines on designing printed information that is accessible to people with sight problems

They need to practise watt they preach.