State of the eNation Reports

Disabled people left out in the cold this winter

04 January 2007

On-line utilities are not switched on in the accessibility stakes according to web accessibility expert, AbilityNet, in a report issued today. Of the ten electricity and gas suppliers and price comparison sites tested, only two - Scottish & Southern (www.scottish-southern.co.uk) and USwitch (www.uswitch.com) gained a minimum three star accessibility rating from the national computing and disability charity.

The survey looked at both usability and accessibility with a focus on the real life challenges that disabled users experience when using services on-line. In addition to a series of manual checks, the assessment included a range of tests employing the types of adaptive techniques commonly used by disabled people such as screen readers and voice recognition technology.

Only sites which met the basic needs of visitors with a vision impairment, dyslexia or physical problem making mouse use difficult, attained three stars or above.

Of the remaining nine sites, six –npower (www.npower.com), Scottish Power (www.scottishpower.com), Simply Switch (www.simplyswitch.com), Switch with Which (www.which.co.uk/switch), British Gas (www.house.co.uk) and EDF energy (www.edfenergy.com) achieved two stars and the rest – Powergen (www.powergen.co.uk) and Money Supermarket (www.moneysupermarket.com) only scored one star.

The report’s author Robin Christopherson, AbilityNet’s Web Consultancy Manager, himself blind, says: “As the winter draws in, the recent price rises for both gas and electricity are going to leave many of us seeking a more cost effective solution to our fuel needs on the Internet. Not only are disabled people correspondingly more likely to be home-based and therefore consuming higher levels of energy than their ‘able-bodied’ neighbours, they are also relatively less well off and consequently working on a tighter budget. To impede disabled people from accessing the information they require to make these important financial decisions is a cause of great concern.

Despite legislation being in place since 1999, a range of recent reports has mirrored AbilityNet’s findings – confirming that between 80 and 96% of sites reviewed didn’t even meet a minimum accessibility threshold. It would appear that there has been no discernable movement towards accessibility since the Disability Rights Commission investigation ¥ in 2004 which put this figure at 81%.

As well as the obvious legal and ethical arguments for accessibility, it simply makes good business sense. The commercial rationale is compelling:

Christopherson adds: “We are now beginning to see examples of highly professional and accessible sites that prove incontrovertibly that an organisation’s website can and should be accessible to the broadest audience possible. A commercial website that was recently re-launched in a more accessible form (www.legalandgeneralgroup.com) has seen a 66% saving in maintenance costs, a 30% increase in natural search engine traffic, a 75% reduction in time to load a page and an additional 13,000 visitors each month from improved browser compatibility alone. They anticipate recouping their outlay in only 5-6 months. This shows the scope for really tangible benefits. For voluntary organisations with limited budgets an Internet presence is a cost effective marketing and communications medium, which is often a means of generating income too. An accessible site maximises exposure and minimises costs.”

Typical problems encountered by Christopherson and his team included:

Text size on some sites, particularly for headings and links is ‘hard-coded’ so that it cannot be easily enlarged – so vital for many visitors who have a vision impairment or dyslexia. With some sites offering small text and others carrying a watermark, effective access for this group is made very difficult.

The text labels attached to images upon which blind visitors and text browser users rely for an explanation are often uninformative or completely absent. Without these spoken labels on graphical links, navigation for a blind visitor is pure guesswork. “Imagine trying to drive to your destination where exits at each junction are left blank,” says Christopherson.

Pictures of text are often used instead of actual text. This not only means that the user cannot modify the text size or colour contrast – essential for those with a vision impairment or dyslexia – it also prevents screen reader users from reading the content when – as so frequently happens - these images are left unlabelled.

Some sites contain adverts and features made up of moving images that will be distracting for visitors with a cognitive impairment, or interactive presentations known as ‘Flash Movies’ which can present access problems for visitors who cannot use a mouse, are vision impaired or who use speech output or voice recognition software.

Some of the sites are reliant on mini programs embedded in the page called JavaScript. People using older browsers, those with vision impairments using some special browsers and users whose organisations disable JavaScript for security reasons, will not be able to access the sites fully - links to the main sections do not appear or the search and shopping cart facilities do not operate fully.

In the UK an estimated 2 million people have a vision impairment, some1.5 million have cognitive difficulties, a further 3.4 million have a disability which prevents them using the standard keyboard, screen and mouse set-up with ease, around 6 million are dyslexic and many millions experience literacy difficulties, not to mention the increasing number of elderly ‘silver surfers’ with failing eyesight or arthritis. These potential internet users also represent a spending power in excess of £120 billion. The arguments are compelling, whether from a moral, legislative or commercial perspective, suppliers of goods, services and information on the internet are ignoring a highly significant market sector.

State of the eNation reports

AbilityNet is at the forefront of a number of initiatives both at home and abroad to improve website accessibility for disabled people and provide both private and public sector organisations with the expertise they need to ensure that their websites are meeting guideline levels of compliance (such as those recommended by the W3C/WAI).

AbilityNet’s ‘State of the eNation’ reports are designed to draw attention to the issue of accessibility and usability and to help disabled people find the best websites for their needs.

For more information on website accessibility, usability and design, contact AbilityNet on 0800 269545 or at accessibility@AbilityNet.org.uk

Issued by the AbilityNet Press Office - 01926 429595

Editor’s notes

The Web: Access and Inclusion for Disabled People – DRC Press Office or http://www.drc-gb.org/PDF/2.pdf

W3C/WAI

These guidelines, first published in May 1999, provide a framework for accessibility. There are over 65 individual W3C checkpoints arranged in three levels of compliance to test for and only about a third can be assessed for conformity by an automated tool such as Watchfire’s Bobby. A comprehensive series of manual and automated tools, including Bobby is employed by AbilityNet in carrying out its surveys.

Euroaccessibility project

On 28 April 2003 in Paris, 24 European organisations from 12 countries agreed to establish a certification authority for web accessibility leading to an Accessibility Quality Mark. AbilityNet joined other disability charities, universities and communications companies in cooperation with US-based W3C/WA1, to pursue this objective, which aims to harmonise standards Europe-wide.

About AbilityNet

AbilityNet is a charity that brings the benefits of computer technology to adults and children with all types of disabilities. Through its network of eleven centres, it offers a comprehensive range of services to disabled people, professionals, employers and statutory bodies. It provides free information and advice on any aspect of computer use by disabled people including individual assessment of technology needs, adapted computer equipment with full training and technical support, a programme of awareness education, and consultancy for employers on system and workstation adaptations, as well as website accessibility.

In 2005 AbilityNet supplied free advice and information to some 366,000 enquiries through its national freephone and web-based services. In addition, the charity's consultants saw nearly 2,000 disabled children and adults face-to-face for individual assessments, equipment, training sessions and home support visits.

In the same year, AbilityNet's professional education courses and seminars attracted around 2,000 staff from public, private and voluntary sector organisations, seeking to develop their awareness of adaptive technology for those with disabling conditions and learn practical solutions to apply in the workplace, at home or in education.

AbilityNet is dependent both nationally and locally on grants and donations from charitable trusts and companies, to carry out its work on behalf of disabled people and those who support them.

For further details check www.abilitynet.org.uk or call AbilityNet’s freephone helpline on: 0800 269545 Issued by: Caroline Saint Freedman, AbilityNet Press Office - Tel: 01926 429595 Fax: 01926 407425 E: AbilityNet Press Office

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For more information:

Email accessibility@AbilityNet.org.uk
Phone 0800 269545

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