The University's Web Accessibility Service is provided by the Digital Media Access Group (DMAG), based in the School of Computing. The service reports to Web Development and is supported by Student Services.
DMAG has been operating as a research and consultancy unit within the School of Computing since 1999. Since then, we've built up considerable experience and expertise in Web accessibility through work with many varied clients - from consultancy on accessible design to audits of web sites, software applications and public kiosks. We contribute to the School's teaching programme at undergraduate and postgraduate level, and we're also active in research in the area, having published our work widely, as well as presenting papers at conferences in the UK and around the world.
We maintain close links with Techdis, the national advisory service to the UK Higher and Further Education communities on disability, technology and learning; and previously worked with the former Scottish Disability Team, who advised on supporting disabled students in tertiary education in Scotland.
In 2004-05, DMAG was contracted to provide a series of accessibility audits of selected University web sites. This was followed up by face-to-face meetings with the site developers in order to support them in implementing the recommendations provided in the audits.
Since then, the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 has placed a new obligation on the University to implement a Disability Equality Scheme, a plan of action to ensure that the equality of disabled people is considered in all activities. One aspect of the Disability Equality Scheme is to provide increased support in Web accessibility, and to monitor the effectiveness of the scheme.
For more on the Disability Equality Duty and how it affects the provision and use of information and communication technology, see the Scottish Disability Team paper on The Disability Equality Duty and ICT.
Web accessibility is a fast-moving topic, with an increasing number and range of resources available, of varying quality and accuracy. DMAG has found that frustration, confusion and misconception can often arise when trying to understand technical and legal requirements. While the University must take steps to monitor progress, the key aim of the service is to provide Web authors with the support they need, regardless of technical expertise.
A final word - in addition to legislative responsibilities to support disabled people, accessible Web design has many other benefits. For more on this, see Benefits of Web Accessibility.
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