08 May 2015
UK companies need better guidance on digital accessibility law to help them understand their duties, according to a report from digital inclusion charity Citizens Online (http://www.citizensonline.org.uk).
The UK's Equality Act 2010 is one of the furthest-reaching pieces of accessibility law in the world, but to date there has been no case law precedent set, the report finds. There has also been no significant pressure from government on service providers who do not make their websites, mobile apps, software, e-books or digital document formats accessible, it says.
One problem is that the law's requirement for organisations to make "reasonable adjustments" to their digital services is open to interpretation, making it hard to mount a robust legal challenge against a service provider, the report says.
"The law may need further elucidation to make clear what is and is not expected of companies and service providers in terms of compliance with standards and law", it says.
Although national and international accessibility standards, guidelines and policies are well-established, published research suggests at least 80% of websites are still failing to meet minimum requirements for accessibility, the report finds.
"The policy intentions are there, the standards, frameworks and technologies are there, the business case - compelling though not always totally straightforward - has been made.
So why are accessibility levels so low?
There seems to be little in the way of "teeth" to this issue, no case law precedent yet on web accessibility in the UK, and no significant pressure from government on service providers who do not make their sites or apps
accessible," it says.
The latest version of Citizen Online's pilot project Fix the Web is to be launched later in 2015, the charity says. The project aims to challenge inaccessible products and sites and "crowd-source" digital accessibility fixes.