Compliance The Internet is a worldwide phenomenon
that since its 'arrival' has been used for nearly every
conceivable
purpose: buying, selling, dating, research, communication,
the list is potentially endless. Except for people with
disabilities who can't enjoy the Internet in the same
way the majority of us now take for granted. With many businesses such as high street shops, there
is now a legal duty to have disabled access to the premises.
This 'access' includes the use of websites that offer
goods and/or services to the public. in.house.media is committed to creating 'disability
friendly' websites in accordance with The Disability
Discrimination Act(DDA) which states: “The Act makes it unlawful
for a service provider to discriminate against a disabled
person: by refusing
to provide (or deliberately not providing) any service
which it provides (or is prepared to provide) to members
of the public.” On the Disability Rights Commission(DRC) website you
will find the following quote: “All organisations that
provide goods, facilities or services to the public,
whether paid for or for free,
are covered by the Disability Discrimination Act, no
matter how large or small they are.” Far from having an adverse effect on your business,
creating a website that everyone can use easily should
have just the opposite result. Contact in.house.media to discuss in more detail how
you can make your site more accessible to disabled users. Readers should take careful
note of the full context of the quotes above.
The discretionary income from the UK's 10 million disabled
people is £50 billion per year. By ensuring that
your website is totally accessible, your potential share
of this market is waiting to be claimed.
The Act only mentions websites as a possible solution to accessibility problems,
not as a possible cause.
Not surprisingly in that case, no standards are mentioned, and never could be,
as there are no standards in existence, only GUIDELINES.
