A new campaign has been launched which aims to open up the web to everybody as well as help online businesses gain a share of £120billion a year and avoid falling foul of new disability discrimination laws.

The Well Adjusted Campaign, launched by The British Dyslexia Association, 2080partners and The Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators, is suggesting 10 'reasonable adjustments' website designers should make to their sites before October 2006, when the new laws come in, to make online and printed media accessible to all.

According to the latest research by the Disability Rights Commission, currently eight out of 10 UK websites are shutting out 20% of the UK population who have communication difficulties.

The campaigners  say that inclusive and accessible communication will unleash the £120 billion per annum spend that this 20% have to offer UK business.

The aim of the Well Adjusted Campaign is to help provide accessibility guidance.

In proposing ten draft Reasonable Adjustments it aims to help all organisations and companies comply with the law and meet the needs of their customers, colleagues and community.

The campaigners are inviting all stakeholders to further refine and define the draft adjustments, between now and October 10 2006 when it will publish the definitive ones.   

The proposed Reasonable Adjustments relate to: 

No 1. Shape and Size

 ·       Is the font used enough and legible?
 ·       Does it meet BDA and RNIB style guidelines?

No 2. Sense

·       Is it written in Plain English?

No 3. Navigation

·       Can I find my way around with or without physical or hidden difficulties like dyslexia?
·       Is it W3C Approved?

 No 4. Design

·       Is it great design or does it confuse your stakeholders - have you asked?
·       Does it offer BDA colour and contrast options?

 No 5. Appearance

·       Does it ‘move’ on the page if you have dyslexia or visual stress?
·       Do you lose it on the page with distracting messages and extraneous information if you have ADHD or sight issues?

 No 6. Sound

·       If you can’t read easily or at all can you listen to it?
·       Is it speech enabled or does it have a ‘Talk-bar’ audio reader?

No 7. Definition

·       Is there access to a dictionary, thesaurus (for those who need alternatives, not a definition), jargon guide, acronym guide or do you get ‘oops’ if you are searching for a word on a website?

No 8. Language

·       In a world of multiple languages are you making the effort to translate written and aural language for large sections for your customers and staff?
·       Does it pass the foreign language translation guidelines? Less than 5% of the Fortune 500 Companies pass by using Spanish alternative text.

No 9. Right to Reply

·       What about writing and responding when faced with communication difficulties?
·       Can people reply or comment or fill in forms easily?

No 10. The 4 New P’s

 ·       Do you have organisational policies, programmes, practices and research panels for your hidden differences stakeholders?
·       Would you like to have the right senior people trained to meet the above Top 10 Reasonable Adjustments?

For more information visit:

www.2080partners.com 
www.welladjusted.org.uk

Image: Freeimages.com

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