Web Accessibility and Corporate Web Management Strategy

April 2004

The expansion of the Internet shows no signs of slowing as more and more products and services are provided 'online'. This increase in the delivery of services electronically places an increased burden on the service provider to ensure that what is available online is not just available to the majority, but available to all, irrespective of their age or physical ability. Here we discuss how web creation can be implemented in such a way that it not only ensures access to all, but enables large corporations and Public Sector Organisations to devolve the management of Content to departments or Business Units, whilst ensuring that corporate image and style is maintained and preserved.

eGovernment

Proposed improvements to our public services have led to Central Government initiatives such as Implementing Electronic Government (IEG). Under this directive, it is the Prime Minister's objective that where councils are able to deliver services electronically, they should do so by 2005. Clearly these services should be accessible to all communities, irrespective of any physical disability. It is important to remember that most of us take for granted our ability to see the screen or to move a mouse yet it is also true that when we get older, our eyesight may fail and we become less mobile. The Internet today is therefore, fundamentally the haunt of the 'temporarily able bodied' and it only becomes apparent how taken for granted this is when we suffer the unfortunate effects of an accident or old age. In the past this discriminatory attitude has not been helped by the very code in which web pages are written - HTML. The traditional practices of writing HTML means that 'fixed formatting' such as text colour, background etc prevents the user from seeing the page in any other way than the way you say it should be and is, in itself, a promoter of exclusion. However, revisions to HTML standards, the advent of Cascading Style Sheets and the introduction of new legislation is allowing attitudes to change; yet why is the pace so slow?

Don't save the Style Sheet for the Disabled

The removal of deprecated or 'fixed format' code and the introduction of Style Sheets can require a site to be rebuilt, almost entirely from scratch. This may be why so many private companies are reluctant to make these changes. However the introduction of a Cascading Style Sheet (CSS), by its very nature, provides a number of important benefits to any organisation as well as opening up their site to people who have previously been excluded. The principle objective of CSS is to segregate the style or look of a page from its content. In other words, you empower the user with ability to replace how a site looks with a style of their own. So how many people do you know who, when shopping at an online supermarket, change the colour of the text and background? Well for most of us we happily accept what is presented and do not feel compelled to resort to a form of electronic changing rooms.

But for some, however, this facility is a life line and opens up new avenues to explore the web. Where as most of us can take for granted black text on a white background written in a stylish serif style font, people with dyslexia or a visual impairment may have difficulty in comprehending these characters. By using CSS the user can substitute your chosen styling for a style of their own. This allows those that have difficulty in viewing your content the ability to use formatting which they find acceptable without changing the content of your website.

eAutonomy versus eAnarchy

Many large organisations have many devolved departments or Business Units that offer a diverse range of services and Information. In the Public Sector nowhere is this more prevalent than in health organisations such as acute NHS Trusts which have a multitude of departments offering a wide and disparate range of services. The employment of CSS allows a controlled devolution in the production of websites whilst retaining corporate control over a consistent 'look and feel'. The implementation of corporate-wide web design strategy will allow departments to produce sites relevant to their services whilst retaining a common standard throughout the organisation as a whole. More than one style sheet can be used for a single website and the mandatory use of a corporate style sheet can be supplemented by departmental style sheets to tailor the final site to both the corporate and departmental requirements. CSS can easily be used in conjunction with Content Management Systems (CMS) whereby content is input into a central system and websites are produced accordingly. Whilst these offer board level management a tight control over the look and feel of inter-departmental websites, care must be taken to ensure that any HTML code created by the CMS conforms to accessibility standards - there is no point after all in reviewing the accessibility of a website if the CMS produces inaccessible code automatically. It is therefore essential that, where a CMS is employed, when undertaking an audit of any corporate website the code generated by the CMS is examined to ensure that what is produced is accessible.

Big Sticks and Carrots

Whilst the uptake of change is slow, it should be noted that recent changes in legislation have made it easier for those deprived of access to services to take legal action. Changes to the Disability Discrimination Act and the introduction of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Act dictate that service providers must take 'reasonable steps' to ensure that their services are available to all. HTML 4.01 (Strict) and the WAI standards have been in existence for some time and it would be very difficult for service providers to mitigate any failure to implement change to make web services accessible. The current IEG3 guide lines now require all Local and Fire Authorities to achieve WAI Level AA as part of the drive to achieve the full enablement of eServices by 2005. However the introduction of accessible websites should not just be seen as a requirement that's forced on an organisation for the sake of a small minority, but as a way of modernising their service delivery for the benefit of both the organisation and the customer. By using CSS, subsequent changes to the look and style of the website can be achieved much more quickly. In short, the application of CSS provides far greater benefits than just making a site accessible and therefore should be regarded as a benefit to all and not just a requirement for the few.