ISO 30071 is a standard and a set of guidelines for managing diversity in the workplace. It aims to help organisations create a more inclusive, and by implication, more productive environment, for employees from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. In the UK, it replaces British Standard BS 8878.
It applies to organisations of all sizes and types, regardless of their location or industry. It is particularly useful for those with a global workforce or those operating in multicultural environments.
By following the guidelines set out in the standard, organisations can create an environment where all employees feel valued and can contribute to the success of the organisation.
By following ISO 30071: 2019 guidelines, organisations can create an environment where all employees feel valued.
The accessibility of websites plays a crucial role in ensuring equal access to information and services for all individuals, including disabled people. It is not just about ‘doing the right thing’, it is a legal requirement.
The Equality Act 2010 is the legal foundation in the UK designed to ensure equal access to goods, services, and information. Websites are included within the legislation. Organisations must make reasonable adjustments to accommodate disabled people. Non-compliance can lead to severe penalties, reaching up to 4% of worldwide turnover.
The Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations (PSBAR) came into effect on September 23, 2018. It applies to public sector organisations. These regulations require public sector websites, including government agencies, educational institutions, and local authorities, to meet certain accessibility standards. Public sector websites should aim for at least Level AA conformance with WCAG guidelines and provide an accessibility statement to communicate their compliance level.
To ensure compliance with accessibility standards, organisations should conduct regular accessibility checks, engage in user testing with disabled people, and make necessary improvements to address any identified barriers. It is advisable to maintain an accessibility statement on the website, which outlines the organisation’s commitment to accessibility, known limitations, and contact information for reporting issues.
The ISO 30071-1 is international information technology standard was published in 2019. It contains good practice guidelines and advice that will be useful to all organisations seeking to make their content accessible. Part 1 is about embedding good accessibility practice into the values of a company – to ensure the ICT products and services they design are accessible.
The development of the ISO 30071-1 standard was lead by Johnathan Hassell who wrote the following:
“It provides a framework around standards like WCAG 2.0 and 2.1 to help integrate accessibility within organisations and into software development lifecycles.”
To achieve accessibility standards, organisations can adhere to the internationally recognised Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). They provide a framework for web developers and designers to create websites accessible to all, including disabled people.
Website accessibility is not just a matter of social responsibility, it is a legal obligation. By adhering to the Equality Act 2010, and relevant legislation such as the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations organisations you can ensure equal access to your websites and services for disabled people. Taking accessibility seriously means you not only to avoid potential penalties but also make your content more accessible and enhance the user experience for all visitors to your websites.
Photo by DPP Law.
Tags: disabled people, equality, equality act 2010, legislation, UK, wcag
If you are a public sector body or a charity that has received public or government funding then you are required to have an accessibility statement on your website. An accessibility statement is a legal document required under the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. The Public Sector Bodies accessibility regulations build on the existing obligations you have under the Equality Act 2010.
This article is a short, simplified summary and should not be regarded as the definitive set of requirements to check your organisation against. For full information refer to the Public Sector Accessibility Regulations.
A ‘public sector body’ is one of the following:
Characteristics of “bodies governed by public law” include:
Call now to chat about your new website: 07810 098 119.
As a website designer or an organisation commissioning a website you need to know how the term ‘disabled people’ is defined for the following reasons:
It will have an impact on the approach you take to making your website accessible.
As an organisation you will want to stay on the right side of the law when it comes to making your content and service accessible to ’disabled people’.
Ok, how is the term defined in law?
To paraphrase the UK equality legislation, the term, ’disabled people’ is defined not by the cognitive or physical impairment of the individual but by the physical (or virtual) environment they live in.
For example, if a wheelchair user turns up for a job interview to find that they can’t get in the building because there are steps up to the front door, that’s a problem. The legislation states that it is not the individuals mobility problem that makes them disabled it’s actually the lack of a ramp.
The design of the building and a lack of an alternative access route is preventing them from attending the interview. What needs changed here is not the person but the design of the building or the addition of an alternative way in.
In other words the individual is not expected to suddenly regain the power of their legs – their lack of mobility is not the issue. However, in this the lack of access to the building has put the individual at a disadvantage and that is against the law.
I understand how that works for buildings, what about websites?
The issues are exactly the same on the web. You can’t say that your website is not designed to be accessible to people who are blind or have Dyslexia or people with a hearing impairment.
If you said that you would be breaking the law; because you are implying that accessibility is due to a problem with the the person and not a problem with the website.
So in summary. If you are a website designer, this definition of ‘disabled people’ tells you that it’s your job to create a design that is flexible enough to accommodate the needs of individuals with different impairments.
If you are an organisation commissioning a website, you may be surprised to know that the accessibility of your website is not the responsibility of your website designer.
The UK legislation clearly states that the responsibility for ensuing your website is accessible lies with you, the owner of the site.
So for you the definition of the phrase ‘disabled people’ means you need to be absolutely clear when commissioning your website that it must be accessible to all users.
There are exceptions to this rule in that the any costs incurred and efforts you make are considered reasonable in relation to the resources you have as an organisation.
Jim Byrne
Digital Accessibility Consultant
Do you need your website to be accessible to disabled people? Do you need an accessibility audit of your existing website? I can help. Contact me. Tel: 07810 098 119
The public sector equality duty is designed to ensure that those carrying out public functions (including public authorities) consider how they can contribute to and help foster a more equal society. They have a duty to promote good relations between different groups and to advocate and advance equality.
In summary:
The public sector equality duty covers a list of ‘protected characteristics’:
The duty also covers marriage and civil partnerships, in relation to eliminating unlawful employment discrimination.
Organisations must take into account a disabled person’s impairment and ensure that that impairment is not a barrier to equal treatment. Organisations need to be pro-active i.e. not wait to react if someone complains about an issue or requests equal access or treatment. An example would be a local authority making their website accessible to disabled people and providing alternative formats available by default.
The public sector equality duty is set out in the Equality Act 2010 and referred to as the ‘general equality duty’.
The general equality duty has three elements:
A public authority must take account of these three needs to comply with the general equality duty.
The list includes health boards, education authorities, further and higher education authorities, local authorities, the police, fire and rescue authorities and Scottish Ministers. There is a full list of those subject to the act online.
The duty covers public authorities when carrying out their public functions as service providers, as policy makers and as employers and also covers services and functions which are contracted out.
When private and voluntary sector organisations are carrying out a ‘public function’ they are also covered by the duty. A public function’ is one defined as such by the Human Rights Act 1998.
In order to meet the general duty, a public authority must:
Secondary legislation outlining specific duties came into force on 27 May 2012.
Each listed authority is required to:
Many of the organisations subject to the act have websites and documents that are not accessible to disabled people. If a disabled person cannot access information on a website managed by a public authority and no alternatives are offered that would be considered as unequal treatment under the Equality Act 2010 .
The services I provide can help in the following ways. I can:
Contact me to discuss any of the above. Telephone: 07810 098 119
Or fill in the contact form below:
In June 1999 Bruce Maguire lodged a complaint with the Human Rights & Equal Opportunities Commission under the Australian Disability Discrimination Act. His complaint was that he was being discriminated against because he could not access the contents of the Olympic Games website.
As a highly skilled user of a refreshable Braille display he was used to being able to access the content of web pages, however, he was unable to access important content on the Olympic Games website.
He won the case, but the Olympic Committee did not make the required changes, and subsequently he was awarded $20,000 dollars in compensation.
The Olympic Games website contained the following accessibility issues:
SOCOG said that:
All of the above reasons where conclusively repudiated by Australian Authorities and expert witnesses.
The Human Rights Committee did not agree that the site was only promotional and said that it was a service provided during the Sydney Olympic Games.
The Commission found that having to access pages by typing in a long URL did not constitute equal treatment,
“The proposed alternative is both unorthodox and cumbersome and need not be resorted to by a sighted person.’
Expert witnesses dismissed the arguments related to the site being too big to change; i.e., they refuted the claim that the cost, complexity and time involved would mean unjustifiable hardship for SOCOG.
Expert witnesses concluded that,
Expert witness Tom Worthington, expressed the view that the corrections would take less time than the time which was consumed talking about it.
SOCOG lost the case and were ordered to make changes by adding alt attributes, providing access to the Sports pages and making the results tables accessible. They refused to comply and were fined $20,000 (Australian dollars).
The Commission found that Bruce Maguire had been discriminated against and that the attitude of SOCOG – who had not taken the complaint seriously – had caused ‘considerable feelings of hurt, humiliation and rejection’.
The Bruce Maguire v the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games set a worldwide precedent relating to the requirement for websites to be accessible in countries with similar disability discrimination legislation.
This article was written by Jim Byrne, a Web site accessibility specialist since 1996. He is the founder of the Worldwide Guild of Accessible Web Designers and author of the QnECMS – the accessible CMS.
Tags: Bruce Maguire, legislation, Sydney Olympics
Absolutely. It is a myth that accessible websites are text only or cater for the lowest common denominator. There is no reason why an accessible website should be any worse or better looking than a site that is not accessible.
Whether your website is well designed or not is down to the talents of the Web designer employed to the do the job, not whether it is accessible or not.
It is generally accepted that if your site conforms to the good practice outlined in the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Website Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), you have demonstrated your commitment to making your site accessible.
Evidence from court cases in other countries with similar legislation suggest that the W3C Guidelines are likely to be used as the main way to measure accessibility of an organisations’ website.
To be safe, you should aim to ensure your website meets at least Priority 2 of the World Wide Web Consortium Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
The W3C WCAG are a series of checkpoints designed to ensure your site will be more accessible to disabled people. The checkpoints are grouped into different levels of compliance.
There are many organisations who will carry out an accessibility audit of your website (search the GAWDS website for examples). If you have in-house website design expertise seeking appropriate training may be the best way to help ensure your website will be accessible.
You should check the accessibility of your website regularly to ensure that you are providing an accessible service to your customers.
Links and resources related to the questions.
Tags: legislation
As a subject matter expert in document compliance, Bob specializes in creating and converting PDF and Microsoft Office documents to accessible formats.
Having worked with many private, government and educational institutes for the past 8 years, Bob is proud to have dedicated his professional career to help ensure inclusion for all.
Or phone to talk over your ideas: 07810 098 119.
Tags: Document Compliance
“A large proportion of my work over the last six years has been web accessibility auditing, using the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1).
I do manual testing, using the standard browsers, and light tools like the AIS Accessibility toolbar, and my use of assistive technology includes the built in Windows and browser accessibility features, and JAWS screenreader. I have also provided consultancy and training services to complement the auditing. “
If you decide not to take up the training option I will still provide you with my website accessibility guide and the slides from my training course, at no additional cost.
The website will be measured against World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) up to level AA for disability access audit.
The aim of this disability access audit will be to find access issues which make it difficult for disabled people, and other visitors to access the website services and content. For each issue found the report will suggest a solution to ensure compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA.
A manual technical audit using a range of ‘user agents’ (i.e. different browsers and devices) will be carried out by Jim Byrne and John Turley. Automated testing tools will also be used to check the site. For example, colour contrast checker, code validation tools and tools for enabling or disabling features of the site.
The website will be manually checked against all relevant WCAG 2.1 checkpoints. A range of tools will be used to help test the website, including a screen reader, text-only browser, colour analyser, CSS and HTML validator.
The website will be tested on mobile devices such as smartphones, tablet computers, IOS and Android platforms. Apps on IOS and Android platforms will be used.
Dynamic page elements will be checked for accessibility, including features using Javascript and/or other technologies.
The accessibility of online forms will be checked to ensure that they are accessible to screen reader and keyboard users and that they continue to work when Javascript is disabled or not present.
For each relevant checkpoint the report will include the following:
This will include a short executive summary, a list of issues that should be fixed first (i.e. those that will have the biggest impact) and a longer discussion of the issues found. The report will include screen-shots, code examples and, where necessary, links to video examples of screen reader use illustrating accessibility issues.
The website and documents will be checked with a range of impairments in mind, for example, colour blindness, dyslexia, learning disabilities and hearing impairment.
My colleague John Turley brings particular expertise in relation to mobile accessibility (as well as being an experienced user of screen readers and other user tools). There are certain challenges faced in ensuring accessibility on mobile devices including screen size, screen resolution and speed. On mobile devices there are different settings to enable speech and punctuation, unlike the default settings on desktop computers.
Accessibility will not be approached solely in terms of WCAG compliance. It will also be considered within a broader usability context in light of the tools and variety of devices that disabled people use when accessing website content and services.
Ultimately, the accessibility of your website will stand or fall on its ability to provide information and services to the target audience including disabled people who are part of that audience.
The report was extremely detailed. It explained what the WCAG guidelines mean, how compliance was assessed, what problems were identified and how these could be fixed. We are confident that implementing the recommendations will greatly improve the accessibility of our site. The report was, as far as possible, free from technical jargon, and Jim was always more than happy to have a chat about things we did not understand. This evaluation has been extremely useful.
Brigitte Cosford – Project Support Officer – Health Rights Information Scotland
These packages are suitable for all businesses, voluntary, education and public sector.
Read more about out website accessibility auditing service.
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