[Gllug] Odeon website

[Richard Turner]

Tethys wrote:
> I've just had the misfortune to try visiting the Odeon website. WTF?

<snip/>
> 
> It's hard to express just how incredulous I am that they've got a
> public facing site that bad in 2004.

I received this in a THIIS newsletter the other day ('The Homecare Industry
Information Service' -- I work for the Disabled Living Foundation:
www.dlf.org.uk).  There's a PDF copy of a report on a survey Web
accessibility undertaken by the Disability Rights Commission that makes
interesting reading.  I've heard that Odeon are aware of the problems with
their site but have thus far failed to do anything about them -- that will
have to change in October when part III of the Disability Discrimination Act
comes into effect.

"WEB WISE

More than 80% of public websites fail minimum standards for disabled web
access says a study published by the Disability Rights Commission.  And at
the conclusion of the first comprehensive investigation into the user
friendliness of websites - covering Government, business, leisure, web
services and e-commerce websites - the DRC issued a stern warning that
swathes of businesses may not be complying with existing equal access laws
and it was 'only a matter of time' before they faced legal challenge from
disabled consumers.  The study also revealed high levels of ignorance among
web developers over both the steps required and the costs of making their
websites accessible for disabled people.  The DRC's report contains 15 key
recommendations. Automated software tools - used to test whether the sample
sites complied with voluntary web access guidelines set by the World Wide
Web Consortium - revealed that 81% of websites failed to meet minimum
standards for disabled web access. The survey also found that the average
home page contains 108 barriers that make it impossible or very difficult
for disabled people to use.  In the same study, the DRC found that levels of
accessibility expertise amongst website developers were low with only 9%
claiming any expertise in access. Only 9% of developers had used disabled
people to test their sites. You can download the report at:
www.drc-gb.org/publicationsandreports/report.asp"


Richard.
-- 
"Racing turtles, the grapefruit is winning..."


-- 
Gllug mailing list  -  Gllug at gllug.org.uk
http://lists.gllug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/gllug