Linking research & learning technologies through standards

With Australian interest in the release of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.0 (WCAG 2.0), web accessibility has emerged as a hot topic for 2009/2010. The Link Affiliates team are planning a series of blog posts from a range of interested parties on the topic of web accessibility to find out what’s happening in Australian education.

This series kicks off with a brief overview of the WCAG 2.0 specification and Australian government web accessibility requirements from Kristena Gladman. Kristena works at e-Works where she has coordinated an investigation into the impact of WCAG 2.0 on the Vocational Education and Training Sector. She has also previously worked on the Curriculum Corporation’s “The Learning Federation” project.

Accessibility can be loosely defined as the degree to which a product, device, service, or environment is readily available to all users. Accessible web design should ensure that all users can access the content regardless of their location, experience or type of computer technology – particularly users with disabilities.  Web content designed without consideration of accessibility will often have access issues for people with disabilities or technological limitations.  Whilst accessibility of web content is often aligned with catering to disabled users there are significant benefits for the majority of users if content is accessible.

The need for web accessibility is recognised internationally in United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In Australia the provision of accessible web content, like equitable access to buildings, education, employment, public transport and goods and services, is covered by the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) which is administered by the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).

In practice, these provisions mean that the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are a requirement, particularly for publicly funded web content.
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