In the UK, the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is reported suing BMI Airlines after the airline failed to make changes for its website to be more accessible to blind and partially sighted people. The RNIB was apparently first alerted to a problem back in 2010 when one of its members complained that they could not use the site to make bookings.

Apparently RNIB gave the airline specific expert guidance and even provided a full audit report to help it in its compliance efforts. A message on bmibaby.com claims the airline is currently working with the RNIB to sort out its web woes:

Unfortunately our website is not fully accessible by people with sight problems, hearing, mobility and cognitive impairments. We are fully aware of this issue and are working alongside the RNIB to ensure our website is brought up to standard.

We have received the RNIB recommendations and we are working to rectify the proposals. Whilst we are going through this process users can call 08451238951 (A local rate number) to access our fares at the original web price. We will aim to update this page on a regular basis to keep users informed of our progress and are working to rectify the issues as soon as possible.

Website accessibility in the United Kingdom is specifically governed by the Equality Act 2010, which swallowed the old Disability and Discrimination Act 1995. However, the law is far from prescriptive, stating that web owners need only take “reasonable steps” to make their sites accessible.

A Global Issue

In November 2010, a Federal Court of Canada rendered a landmark ruling on accessibility of websites for persons with disabilities. With very detailed and persuasive reasons, the Federal Court of Canada agreed that there is a systemic problem of inaccessible Federal Government websites. This was found to be so despite Federal Government claims that it had been working for years on making those sites accessible.

The Court concluded that this was a system wide problem. It found that accessibility standards that the Federal Government uses for website accessibility were too weak and inadequate. It also found that the Federal Government too often did not even live up to its own inadequate website accessibility standard.

The Court ruled that the Federal Government’s 9-year-old accessibility standard for its websites “…has not been implemented, has not been enforced, and has not been made a priority by the deputy heads of the estimated 146 government departments and agencies who are responsible for implementing these standards.”  

Is your site up to par?

While making your website inclusive and accessible for all your visitors should be a given, there are practical reasons why it should be a priority. Search engines are effectively screen readers, and evaluate your site in much the same way as a screen reader used by a human. 

There is a number of free web accessibility evaluation tools available including one  provided by WebAIM. The site states that it is used to aid humans in the web accessibility evaluation process. Rather than providing a complex technical report, WAVE shows the original web page with embedded icons and indicators that reveal the accessibility of that page.

HostJury.com.. WAVE has detected no accessibility errors ...but you must still check your page to ensure it is actually accessible.