UK-based web accessibility agency Nomensa released its report
today based on research commissioned by the United Nations.
Using a combination of manual and automated testing against the
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), Nomensa examined the
leading website in five different sectors in 20 countries,
including its Head of State and leading airline, bank, newspaper
and retailer. In all, the survey tested 100 websites.
Only the websites of the German Chancellor, the Spanish
Government and the British Prime Minister met WCAG Level A, the
minimum recognised level. No site met Level AA or higher.
“Performance across the different sectors was varied, with
central government, retail and banking offering the strongest
accessibility performances across all countries,” said Simon
Norris, managing director of Nomensa. “While only three websites
made it onto the first rung of the accessibility ladder, many
websites were in grasping distance of achieving minimum levels of
accessibility.”
Sites from Australia, Brazil, China, India, Russia, South Africa
and the United States were among the others examined.
Sunday was the UN International Day of Disabled Persons, this
year dubbed E-Accessibility Day. Secretary General Kofi Annan said
the day "reminds us of the need to make the internet available to
everyone."
"Slowly, governments and the private sector have been
recognizing the economic and social benefits of making websites
fully accessible, and have been putting place changes involving
software and hardware alike," he said in a statement.
He added: "The Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities, which is expected to be approved by the General
Assembly later this month, can give additional impetus to this
trend."
The Convention specifies that measures should be introduced to
eliminate obstacles and barriers to information and communications,
and to promote access for persons with disabilities to information
and communications technologies, including the internet.
States that choose to become party to the Convention will commit
themselves to taking steps to provide "information intended for the
general public to persons with disabilities in accessible formats
and technologies appropriate to different kinds of disabilities in
a timely manner and without additional cost." The Convention urges
private businesses and mass media to do the same with their
services.
