Web design

A guide to accessible publishing

To create a fully accessible website, make sure that accessibility criteria are included throughout the project life cycle. Trying to fix an inaccessible website after it has been created can be difficult, expensive and may not be successful.

Basic accessibility checklist

Check websites and information for accessibility by carrying out these simple checks:

Navigation

Navigation should be easy.
Include a site map.
Show which pages have been accessed in contents links.

Layout

Make sure paragraphs are well spaced and avoid blocks of text.

Images

Include images to help explain the text.
Explain animations, graphs and tables in the text.
Provide text captions for images.
Optimise images for web use to reduce the download time.
Avoid large graphics, as they make page harder to read.

Colour

Avoid using green, red and pink.

Preferences

Make sure users can set their own choice of font style and size, background and print colours.
Design web pages that can be downloaded and read off-line.

Accessibility guidelines

The most recognised accessibility standard is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG 1.0). This has been adopted by public, private and voluntary sector organisations worldwide.

Another key standard is PAS 78, the good practice guidelines for commissioning accessible websites in the UK and abroad. Compliance both WCAG 1.0 and PAS 78 is the minimum accessibility requirement for anyone designing or commissioning government websites.

PAS 78

PAS 78 explains how to commission an accessible website from a design agency. It was published by the British Standards Institution (BSI) in conjunction with the Disability Rights Commission - merged into the Equality and Human Rights Commission in 2007.

PAS 78 makes extensive reference to WCAG 1.0 and should not be seen as a separate framework. One of its key recommendations is to uphold W3C guidance, which includes WCAG 1.0.

PAS 78 recommends involving disabled people in the requirements gathering and conceptual design process, and arranging regular testing by disabled people.

It provides guidance on:

steps to take to commission accessible websites
guidelines and specifications to follow during development
HTML, CSS and JavaScript
issues relevant to Web 2.0 technologies
page validation and user testing
working with external companies and website developers.

If you follow the PAS 78 guidelines, your website should fulfil your government department's duty under the Public Sector Equality Duty to provide accessible information.

PAS 78 guidelines could also be applied to other areas, for example the development of interactive voice response (IVR) systems.

WCAG 1.0

WCAG 1.0 was created to show web developers exactly how to design sites that are inclusive. To support this, it includes a full list of checkpoints that a site must conform to in order to be inclusive.

Government websites are required to conform as a minimum to WCAG 1.0 Conformance Level “Double-A”. This is a commonly recognised international benchmark created through the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Access Initiative.

WCAG is primarily of interest to web developers but may also be useful for people creating other digital formats.

W3C guidelines

Any new site approved by the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Public Engagement and the Delivery of Service must conform to W3C guidelines from the point of publication. Existing sites must have achieved this level of accessibility by December 2008.

Websites which fail to meet the mandated level of conformance are subject to the withdrawal process for '.gov.uk' domain names, as set out in Naming and Registering Websites (TG101).

Other accessibility standards

There are an increasing number of standards that cover other technologies, such as the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0. (WAI-UAAG 1.0) and developing guidelines such as the Accessible Rich Internet Applications Suite (WAI-ARIA).

Measuring accessibility

To find out if your website is accessible you need to test it for technical accessibility and usability:

Technical accessibility means the site works with a range of assistive technologies.
Usability means the site can be used easily.

When developing an accessibility test plan, include a mixture of tools and techniques, and test for both technical accessibility and usability.

Technical accessibility testing

Ways to test technical accessibility include:

Automated testing - to determine whether the website upholds W3C guidelines and specifications.
Validation testing - to determine whether code upholds W3C guidelines and specifications, tools include validators for HTML and style sheets.
Assistive technology tool testing - to determine whether the website can be accessed using the tools commonly used by disabled users.

Usability testing

Usability testing involves recruiting a set of representative users and asking them to try out a prototype of your website to achieve a set of tasks. It is also known as user testing.

For effective user testing:

Create user profiles for the types of people you expect to use your website (include their level of web experience).
Recruit users who match these profiles.

To make sure disabled people can access your website include users with:

a range of impairments
differing access preferences.

The testing process used should conform to BS EN ISO 13407:1999, Human-centred design processes for interactive systems.

Remember – websites also require attention to accessibility after they are live. Maintenance and upgrades must include accessibility criteria.

Examples of accessible websites

The Office for Disability Issues website currently achieves level AA standards on all pages and AAA-level standards on most.

Other accessible websites are:

The British Dyslexia Association
RNIB

Cost-efficiency

Financial incentives for inclusive design include:

Accessible web pages tend to be lighter, that is physically smaller, which reduces bandwidth costs and improves page response times - leading to an improved customer experience.
Increasingly, people will be able to access services and information online, representing a reduction in costs needed for ancillary resources such as call centres.
Ongoing maintenance and hosting costs can be significantly reduced.
Providing one website that supports multiple audiences is more efficient than running multiple websites for multiple audiences.

Explore

Beyond the Office for Disability Issues

Page last reviewed: 30 March 2011