Media Accessibility Special : eGov Monitor assesses Access to on Museums and Archives

"Digital Heritage Not Open to All" and "Museums, libraries and archives lead the way in website accessibility" are two stories from eGov Monitor looking at the accessibility of UK public resources online.

The articles report on the very best and the worst of performances. The biennial Jodi Mattes Accessibility Awards for website accessibility in museums, libraries and archives were announced in the same week as the publication of a national report assessing accessibility standards across the sector.

Awards went to www.webwords.org, Library and Information Services at the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead, and www.pewsey-heritage-centre.org.uk, Wiltshire County Council Museums Service.

Meanwhile, the public audit of 300 library, museum and archive websites found that six out of 10 failed the most basic Web accessibility tests. 'Research by City University for the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) showed that only three percent of sites tested met the accessibility standards that government websites are expected to achieve by December 2005.' However, the findings are a significant improvement on similar checks a year ago, when just 19% of websites complied with basic accessibility guidelines.

Associated Link: eGov Monitor: Digital Heritage Not Open to All

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