The Conservative Party and the Scottish National Party achieved
the minimum three stars (on the computing and disability charity's
five star scale) required to meet the needs of visitors with a
vision impairment, dyslexia or physical problem making mouse use
difficult.
Of the other seven sites evaluated by the computing and
disability charity for both usability and accessibility, the
Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, the SDLP, Sinn Feinn, UKIP and the
Ulster Unionist Party achieved only two stars, while the Ulster
Democratic Unionist Party scored only one.
Out of the 10 parties, four – Labour, the Conservatives, the Lib
Dems and the SNP - have made a public commitment to accessibility,
following a request by AbilityNet.
"For the millions of people with a disability or dyslexia
considering their electoral choices this Spring, the presence of
party information on-line may fulfil a crucial role in the decision
making process," said Robin Christopherson, AbilityNet's Web
Consultancy Manager, himself blind.
"Whilst no site would knowingly impose a 'technological
lock-out' on its disabled visitors, it is clear that there is still
much scope for improvement for many of the parties reviewed in this
survey," he added.
In March this year the Government published its Digital
Strategy, acknowledging the evidence of a 'digital divide' and
pointing to the 'barriers to accessibility' exhibited by some web
sites as an example of this.
The Strategy points out that web sites, just like other
suppliers of services or information, are required to take
'reasonable steps' to ensure accessibility under the provisions of
the Disability Discrimination Act.
Christopherson praised the Labour party for practicing what it
preached.
"The Labour Party is to be congratulated for setting a precedent
for its rivals and we look forward to seeing the Government's
Digital Strategy promoting best practice in future web site
development," he said.
During the survey, Christopherson and his team encountered the
same problems as in previous studies.
Text size on some sites, particularly for headings and links is
'hard-coded' so that it cannot be easily enlarged – so vital for
many visitors who have a vision impairment. With some sites
offering small text and others carrying a watermark, effective
access for this group is made very difficult.
The text labels attached to images upon which blind visitors and
text browser users rely for an explanation are often uninformative
or completely absent. Without these spoken labels on graphical
links, navigation for a blind visitor is pure guesswork. "Imagine
trying to drive to your destination where exits at each junction
are left blank," said Christopherson.
Pictures of text are often used instead of actual text. This not
only means that the user cannot modify the text size or colour
contrast – essential for those with a vision impairment or dyslexia
– it also prevents screen reader users from reading the content
when – as so frequently happens – these images are left
unlabelled.
Some sites contain adverts and features made up of moving images
that will be distracting for visitors with a cognitive impairment,
or interactive presentations known as 'Flash Movies' which can
present access problems for visitors who cannot use a mouse, are
vision impaired or who use speech output or voice recognition
software.
Some of the sites are reliant on mini programs embedded in the
page called JavaScript. People using older browsers, those with
vision impairments using some special browsers and users whose
organisations disable JavaScript for security reasons, will not be
able to access the sites fully - links to the main sections do not
appear or the search and shopping cart facilities do not operate
fully.
These sites exclude a hugely valuable potential market
comprising an estimated 2 million vision impaired users, 1.5
million with cognitive difficulties, a further 3.4 million with
disabilities preventing them from using the standard keyboard,
screen and mouse set-up with ease, around 6 million with dyslexia
and many millions with literacy difficulties, not to mention the
increasing number of elderly 'silver surfers' with failing eyesight
or arthritis.
These potential internet users also represent a spending power
in excess of £120 billion, according to AbilityNet.
Adds Christopherson:
"We are now beginning to see examples of highly professional and
accessible sites that prove incontrovertibly that an organisation's
web site can and should be accessible to the broadest audience
possible.
"The Disability Rights Commission shows that able-bodied
visitors also benefit from accessible web sites, finding them
easier and quicker to use by a highly significant factor of 35%.
When we visit a web site we are seeking critical functionality –
namely speed and efficiency – not a life-changing experience.
Accessible sites are simply easier and more intuitive to use: they
improve productivity for everyone."
