The findings come from digital agency Nomensa. It evaluated the
homepages of 99 company websites (Royal Dutch Shell has listings
for two share classes in the FTSE 100) using manual testing against
the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) of the World Wide
Web Consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative.
WCAG describes a site with a minimum level of accessibility as
conforming to Level A. The next level is Level AA and the maximum
level of accessibility recognised by WCAG is Level AAA.
The best of the lot were the sites of the Daily Mail & General
Trust and Xstrata,
which failed to meet Level AA by just one checkpoint because their
pages cannot be expanded or contracted according to the user's
preference. This can exclude some people who wear powerful glasses
or use screen magnification software and also people using a PDA,
internet television or mobile phone.
Among the 99 sites tested, the five most common flaws were:
- Poor quality web code
- Poor use of lists
- Not using headings and titles properly
- Missing alternative text for graphical elements
- Using pop-up windows
Only five sites were found to be using standards-compliant code.
And 58 sites used pop-ups without warning the user. Pop-ups
aggravate most people but for those with cognitive impairments or
those using screen magnification software, they can be a serious
problem.
Simon Norris, Nomensa's managing director, said: "Companies just
aren’t appreciating how important this is. As well as leaving
themselves exposed to legal action, ignoring accessibility actively
turns visitors away."
Good web accessibility is expected by the UK's Disability
Discrimination Act. And according to the Disability Rights
Commission (DRC), there are over 10 million people with
disabilities in the UK with a total annual spending power of more
than £80 billion.
Norris continued: "Rejecting usability, in favour of a flashy
front of house, encourages negative feelings which can end up
dismissing the brand entirely. In our experience, those companies
that bridge the gap between creative design and user experience,
encounter a positive effect on their bottom line.”
Léonie Watson, head of accessibility at Nomensa added: “This is
the first time that this research has been largely undertaken
manually. We believe that as accessibility is about people, it
makes no sense to rely on machines for evaluation. It just isn’t
enough.”
Of the 47 checkpoints in WCAG that describe Level A conformance,
only four can be tested automatically with any degree of accuracy,
according to Nomensa. The company's own inspectors carried out the
remaining 43 checkpoints manually.
Accessibility event on WCAG 2.0 and PAS 78: Edinburgh, 23rd May
2006
The Scottish chapter of the Usability Professionals Association
is hosting an event on the next version of WCAG and PAS 78 on 23rd
May 2006. Speakers include Judy Brewer, Director of the Web Accessibility
Initiative (WAI) International Program Office and Julie Howell,
Digital Policy Development Manager for the Royal National Institute
for the Blind (RNIB).
