[plug] The Australian Business Registry

[Alex Nordstrom]

Please do not top post. Replies endian little hate I.

On Sun, 13 Mar 2005 12:45, Evert van Dijk wrote:
> bob wrote:
> > I think you will find that there is already a requirement for
> > government departments to "provide equal access free from
> > unreasonable barriers".
> >
> > The legislation in question: DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ACT 1992
> >
> > IANAL but I would guess that the ATO is in breach of the act.
> 
> hehe, breach of the act
> in Government departments; Acts are only suggestions. :)
>
> Breaches are only acted upon if there is notice made of it
> written complaints will help not only to the appropriate dept but
> also to the legislators of the act



> I am not sure that using Mozilla can be considered a disability, in
> the same way that using a Jet propelled Plane be a disability
> compared to using Bi-Planes Propellor driven craft :)

No, but compliance with W3C standards not only for HTML but also for 
accessibility is still a requirement. The matter at hand here is not 
that the Web site excludes *browsers*, but that it excludes 
*technologies*, or require technologies which assume the user does not 
have any disabilities.

The document that bob referenced[1] also states:

[1] http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/standards/www_3/www_3.html

 1.2 What is Accessible Web Design

 In its most general sense, accessible web design refers to the
 philosophy and practice of designing web pages so that they can be
 navigated and read by everyone, regardless of location, experience, or
 the type of computer technology used. [...] Tim Berners-Lee, the
 inventor of the Worldwide Web and Director of the W3C Consortium, has
 commented that "The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by
 everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect."

 [...]

 3. Access advice
 3.1 Introduction

 The Commission believes that the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
 that have been developed by the W3C Consortium provide the most
 comprehensive set of benchmarks for assessing the accessibility of
 websites, and represent current international best practice in
 accessible web design. Familiarity with these guidelines should thus be
 viewed as essential for anyone involved with the design or evaluation
 of an accessible website.

 [...]

 3.3 Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

 The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the Worldwide Web Consortium
 (W3C) has developed Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0.
 Released as a W3C Recommendation on 5 May 1999 following a period of
 extensive review and public consultation, the WCAG is now a stable
 document and may be used as reference material or cited as a normative
 reference from another documents.

Said document is found at http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/

It contains, amongst others, the following provision:

 6.3 Ensure that pages are usable when scripts, applets, or other
 programmatic objects are turned off or not supported. If this is not
 possible, provide equivalent information on an alternative accessible
 page. [Priority 1]

And therein lies the rub. It would help if the complainant had actually 
suffered from the inaccessibility due to a disability, rather than 
consumer choice, as the HREOC is less likely to act on hypothetical 
damages.

-- 
Alex Nordstrom
http://lx.n3.net/
Please do not CC me in followups; I am subscribed to plug.