Discrimination against people with disabilities is prohibited by law, but website owners often don't realise how the law affects websites.
A 2005 study found that as many as 97% of European public service websites failed to provide a minimum level of accessibility. There are few reasons to think that commercial websites are more accessible than governmental websites. Web designers, developers and operators clearly need to be more conscious of accessibility issues.
Even if operators are not deliberately excluding disabled users, they could find themselves on the wrong side of the law. This post gives a brief overview of the Equality Act 2010, its application to websites, the obligations it places on their owners, and the practical steps that may be taken to improve accessibility.
The Equality Act 2010
Since 2 December 1996 (when the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 came into force) website owners have been obliged to ensure that their websites are accessible to users with disabilities. After over a decade in force, the DDA's requirements were merged into the Equality Act 2010. The 2010 Act was intended to bring clarity to the diversity of previously-extant discrimination legislation.
Read the full article here: www.seqlegal.com/blog/website-accessibility-and-equality-act-2010
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