Last month we had yet another accessibility audit of high profile sites that made depressing reading and I doubt very much whether the situation will change greatly this year. This would also include many of the UK public sector sites even though they’re supposed to conform to the WCAG Double-A standard. From experience I would say that even if this were the case at launch there seems to be a slow, inevitable slide into inaccessibility. So it set me wondering over the Christmas break how we might be able to stop the rot.

Starting as you mean to go on

A good starting point is the recent BSI guide – PAS 78: A guide to good practice in commissioning accessible websites – freely available from the Disability Rights Commission.

Usually the emphasis is those involved in production – the developers…

I’ve been struck again how often web designers go for the “baby bear” option when creating visuals for a new look & feel. We’re just going through the early stages of a templating job for a client so have been reviewing a set of visuals that have been produced, before we make them into static web pages & then integrate into a content management system.

Now there’s nothing wrong with trying to present a design in the best light, but it’s important that in showing everything so that it’s “just right” that you don’t lose sight of what will be the reality of the life of your website.

I think there are three main issues that come into play here. The first is that there are still remnants of print-based thinking around. Sometimes it’s not just the Photoshop files that are static, but also the thinking that’s behind it. When…