Help improve Resources for Web Accessibility

The accessibility of websites is an increasingly important issue. The Formal Investigation conducted by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) in 2004 showed the poor state of accessibility of websites in the UK in both the public and private sectors.

More recent activities include the development of a Good Practice Guide on website accessibility by the DRC and the British Standards Institute (BSI) and a European Quality Mark for Accessible websites. Yet web developers and website owners remain somewhat confused about the issues surrounding web accessibility.

The University of York is conducting a survey of web developers and website owners to assess levels of interest and knowledge about accessibility and to gather information about what kinds of support developers and owners currently have and would like to have available in the future. This survey has been designed by the team who conducted the DRC research (Helen Petrie and her team, formerly at City University London). On the basis of the results we will be making recommendations to the European Commission and the W3C on what kinds of resources need to be developed for web developers and website owners.

So if you develop websites or have responsibility for a website, please help in this process but taking one of the online surveys – it takes about 10 minutes to complete and is available at: www.bentoweb.org/surveys. We will also post the results of the surveys on the same website in March 2006.

Associated Link: The survey

Why 'The 10 Commandments of Web Design' are Complete Baloney
Source: SitePoint, 5 July 2008
 
Further to our earlier discussion...

Local Council Websites: Good, but no Cigar
Source: Webcredible, 4 July 2008
 
The 'Local Council Websites: Good, But No Cigar' report evaluates the top 20 Socitm council websites against 20 best practice usability guidelines.

Why does the OK Button say OK?
Source: Gerry McGovern, 3 July 2008
 
Most times I come across the OK button, something not-OK has happened.

The 10 Commandments of Web Design
Source: Business Week, 2 July 2008
 
To try and make sense of it all, BusinessWeek.com canvassed a broad range of Internet luminaries to discover the design rules they live by right now.

Bill Gates' email rant at the Usability Team
Source: Crunch Gear, 1 July 2008
 
The Seattle P-I has tracked down an old e-mail from 2003 that Bill Gates sent out to members of the Windows Usability team.

Can a better User Experience also be a Greener Experience?
Source: Catalyst Resources, 30 June 2008
 
By improving the user experience of its web collaboration software, Catalyst made it easier for clients to work in productive teams without travelling the globe.

The Spread of Telepresence Technology
Source: Tech News World, 28 June 2008
 
Rising energy costs and green concerns are fuelling a huge increase in demand for videoconferencing, collaborative software and virtual telepresence technology.

UK Usability market worth more than £200 million by end of 2008
Source: eConsultancy, 27 June 2008
 
The UK Usability market will grow by an estimated 20% in 2008 to a value of £214 million, according to research published this week by e-consultancy.

Research suggests growing importance of Usability to UK Businesses
Source: Business Strata, 26 June 2008
 
Integrated software for lead generation and marketing is valuable, but only as long as it's usable.

Web 2.0: Too Smart by a Half?
Source: Computer Technology Review, 25 June 2008
 
Will the Web 2.0 generation’s epitaph be, “They died with their options open?”