The University Web Accessibility Policy

This is the online version of the University Web Accessibility Policy, published on May 12th 2008.

The Policy is available in other formats:

Introduction

Under the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), the University has a legal obligation to ensure that disabled staff, students and members of the public do not encounter unjustified discrimination on account of their disability. The University also has a legal obligation to make reasonable adjustments to meet the needs of disabled people. The University's Disability Equality Scheme sets out how we aim to promote equality for disabled people, including through use of ICT.

There is a specific need to support staff of all technical abilities in publishing Web content, whether for teaching and learning, for recruitment, for publicity and dissemination of research activity, or for internal use by staff, to develop this content in a way which is as accessible as possible to disabled people and to support the University's obligations under the DDA. In particular, there is a need to ensure that:

existing web resources do not unjustifiably preserve legacy barriers to access, and
new web resources do not introduce new barriers to access.

The University Web Accessibility Service is a team of web accessibility experts, based in the School of Computing, and which has been funded since May 2006 through Disability Premium Funding to provide dedicated support to staff publishing or commissioning the publication of web content.

It has been identified that there is a need to formalise best practice in accessible Web publishing for University Staff, while encouraging innovative use of the Web to promote equality for all, regardless of disability.

Thus, the Web Accessibility Service has produced two documents to support staff:

A University Web Accessibility Policy (this document), which provides a formal definition of the University's strategy for using the Web to promote equality of access to information, education and services by disabled people.
A supporting University Web Accessibility Definition of Best Practice, which provides an internal baseline for web accessibility, and will exist as a reference document to be periodically updated to reflect current best practice.

Both documents have been developed to reflect current best practice in accessible web design, and have undergone extensive consultation with the University's Disability Services, Information and Communication Services and the Learning Centre, as well as individual staff members with responsibilities for Web publishing.

The Web Accessibility Policy is comprised of two Principles.

Principle 1: Use the Web wherever possible to reduce exclusion and promote equality

Web solutions shall be investigated and deployed wherever appropriate as a means of overcoming existing or potential physical access barriers that may be encountered by disabled staff, students and members of the public when accessing information, communication or experiences.

Principle 2: Make sure that Web resources are designed to be optimally accessible

Web resources shall be designed so that they can be used for the intended purpose by as many of the target audience as possible, regardless of disability. In particular:

The web resource shall be designed in such a way that no unjustifiable accessibility barriers exist, by following best practice in accessible Web design. The University has separately published a Web Accessibility Definition of Best Practice and other supporting resources, all freely available to staff, that encapsulate current best practice in accessible Web design. (These are available online from the Web Accessibility Service web site.)
Appropriate accessibility and usability evaluations of the resource shall be carried out during development. Any accessibility issues identified during evaluation shall be addressed as far as possible before deployment.
For a web resource to be developed by third parties external to the University, conformance with the University Web Accessibility Definition of Best Practice shall be stipulated as a contractual agreement. Evidence that conformance has been met shall be obtained by the resource commissioners before accepting delivery of the resource.
Regular monitoring of a web resource should take place by the resource commissioner or owner to ensure that new accessibility or usability barriers have not been introduced since the last accessibility check.
Suitable training on accessible design should be given to all persons involved in maintaining or contributing to the resource.
Where a resource contains barriers that cannot be removed, the justification for the existence of these barriers shall be documented, and steps shall be taken to mitigate their impact on disabled users of the resource. This may involve:
1. provision of an alternative route to achieving the equivalent information, functionality or experience within the same web resource.
2. provision of an alternative route to achieving the equivalent information, functionality or experience within an alternative web resource.
3. provision of an alternative route to achieving the equivalent information, functionality or experience using a non-web solution.
4. where no equivalent alternative is possible, provision of a valid justification as to why this is the case.

The Web Accessibility Service

Staff involved in producing, commissioning, publishing, contributing to and maintain web content are strongly recommended to make use of the University's Web Accessibility Service, as a free support and advisory service on how to optimise accessibility of the content they produce or for which they are responsible.

The Web Accessibility Service exists to provide accessibility advice at all stages of a web resource's lifecycle, from conception, through planning, commissioning, development and evaluation to maintenance. This includes advice on appropriate use of currently available tools for creating e-learning resources, and all advice is tailored to suit the specific context of the web resource or project in question. Support is offered through face-to-face meetings, by email or telephone.

For more information contact David Sloan: dsloan@computing.dundee.ac.uk or extension 85598.

Back to Top