Websites discriminate against disabled

The UN plans to introduce measures to ensure that the disabled can fully access the benefits of the internet.

At a convention to mark this year's International Day of Persons with Disabilities which had 'E-accessibility' as its theme, delegates heard how it was not only a moral issue but made good business sense as well.

With around one in five people having a disability, web accessibility would also increasingly become an issue with the ageing of the world population, who will want to continue to access the web.

However, 97 per cent of websites around the world still fail to take into account even the minimum level of accessibility, according to UK-based web accessibility agency Nomensa .

The company's findings come from the first ever global web accessibility survey which it carried out for the UN.

It looked at leading websites in five sectors in 20 countries using a combination of manual and automated testing benchmarked against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

These included government sites as well as those of airline, bank, newspaper and retailer. In all, the survey tested 100 websites.

Yet only the websites of the German Chancellor, the Spanish Government and the British Prime Minister met WCAG Level A; the minimum recognised level. No site met Level AA or higher.

As well as ensuring web design caters for the disabled, the UN said industry standards need to be put in place in order to build a unified market for accessibility tools. This would not only make websites more accessible but also help bring down costs.

Secretary General Kofi Annan said things were slowly getting better but the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities , which is expected to be approved by the General Assembly later this month, "can give additional impetus to this trend".

This treaty aims to protect the rights of persons with disabilities. While it does not create new rights, it specifically prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in all areas of life.

The Convention specifies that measures should be introduced to eliminate obstacles and barriers to information and communications, and to promote access for persons with disabilities to information and communications technologies, including the internet.

States that choose to become party to the Convention will commit themselves to taking steps to provide "information intended for the general public to persons with disabilities in accessible formats and technologies appropriate to different kinds of disabilities in a timely manner and without additional cost" .

The Convention also urges private businesses and mass media to do the same with their services.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan said: "Access to information and communication technologies creates opportunities for all people, perhaps none more so than persons with disabilities."