Charity campaigns for better internet access

A national internet charity is campaigning to make websites more accessible for elderly and disabled users.

The Fix the Web initiative set up by Citizens Online has a two-pronged approach to tackle the problem.

It offers internet users a quick and easy way to log a complaint about websites that are non-compliant with accessibility standards; such as those developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

It is also seeking volunteers to take on these reports and contact the ‘offending’ website owners and even work with them to rectify the problem.

Making sure that websites comply with the needs of the less able has been a source of concern for a while.The W3C develops web content accessibility guidelines for website designers.

But its research found that only 19 per cent of websites examined met the minimum standard for web access. Only two per cent meet level 2 compliance and none achieve the highest level.

In the UK, legal disputes about website accessibility were handled under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). However no cases tested the DDA as companies settled out of court.

Last month most of the rights and responsibilities under this law were replaced by the Equality Act.

In a statement Citizens Online said: “The majority of websites are simply not designed with accessibility for all in mind, despite the proven business case for inclusion. With around six million excluded disabled and older people in the UK with a combined spending power of £50-£60bn, in purely commercial terms, inaccessible sites are clearly losing out.”

The reporting process will take less than a minute according to the charity. It can be done using the form on the Fix the Web site or by emailing post@fixtheweb.net.

The project, which has funding from the Nominet Trust and partners such as AbilityNet aims to have 10,000 volunteers dealing with 250,000 websites within two years of launch.

This will ensure that disabled users can make complaints quickly in the knowledge that there will be technical support on hand to take things forward on their behalf Citizens Online said.

Dr Gail Bradbrook of Citizens Online said: “Amongst the tech community I notice a tremendous amount of desire to put skills to good use, a belief that code can be cool and can benefit society.

"Those who don’t understand the issues of e-accessibility will be horrified, I think, to learn that the web they love so much is excluding so many people. I firmly believe that this isn’t a problem disabled people should have to deal with on their own.

"It’s time a committed group of tech volunteers took charge of the issue and made it their own.”