| Accessibility is about making it as easy as possible for | | | | "Someone who has a physical or mental impairment |
| all members of society to fully take part in that | | | | which has an effect on his or her ability to carry out |
| society. It is about removing barriers. It is about | | | | normal day-to-day activities." |
| inclusion and empowerment. It is about creating the | | | | People with learning difficulties have received a |
| sort of world that we all want to live in - a message | | | | particularly raw deal (it's estimated that some 2 million |
| that should resonate with us all. | | | | people in the UK have learning difficulties). This |
| Where the UK government stands | | | | audience group is even mentioned specifically in the |
| This year, the UK government gave "a clear | | | | Code of Practice: |
| commitment to ensuring that all government | | | | - "5.22 - In many cases, a service provider will need |
| websites and online services present no barriers to | | | | to consider providing auxiliary aids or services to |
| use for those with disabilities" (source: the UK). It has | | | | improve communication with people with learning |
| also promised "a renewed focus on the use of | | | | disabilities." |
| e-inclusion as a route to social inclusion" (source: of | | | | - "5.28 - For example, a customer with a learning |
| the Deputy Prime Minister). | | | | disability may be able to access a service by the |
| Where are we now? | | | | provision of documents in large, clear print and plain |
| Accessibility's profile within the Internet industry has | | | | language or by the use of colour coding and |
| never been higher, which is a good thing for all those | | | | illustrations." |
| people who have benefited from the improvements | | | | Some advice |
| that have been made to a large number of websites. | | | | Webcredible's analysis of usability testing sessions |
| Unfortunately, most people's understanding of | | | | involving participants with learning difficulties has led |
| accessibility relates exclusively to visually-impaired | | | | to our suggesting these guidelines when designing for |
| users - to the point, in fact, where these two terms | | | | these users: |
| are often used interchangeably. | | | | - Your website should behave as consistently as |
| Well, it's time that we all realised that there are other | | | | possible, and have a consistent appearance |
| groups of users out there who need - and deserve - | | | | look-and-feel (e.g. all links and buttons should look and |
| support. | | | | behave in the same way) |
| Where should we be? | | | | - Avoid using words in their non-literal sense (e.g. "it's |
| The Code of Practice for part III of the Disability | | | | raining cats and dogs") |
| Discrimination Act defines a disabled person as: | | | | - Avoid using abstractions (e.g. |