The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Bring your own policy: why accessibility standards need to be contextually sensitive

Bring your own policy: why accessibility standards need to be contextually sensitive
Bring your own policy: why accessibility standards need to be contextually sensitive
Initiatives to enhance Web accessibility have previously focused on the development of guidelines which apply on a global basis. Legislation at national and international levels increasingly mandate conformance with such guidelines. However large scale surveys have demonstrated the failure of such approaches to produce any significant impact.

We review previous critiques of the limitations of such approaches and introduces a new scenario – content for people with learning disabilities – in order to illustrate the limitations of resource-based standards. We describe how BS 8878, a code of practice developed in the UK which provides a standard for the processes used in the development of Web resources, has been deployed in an institutional context.

We conclude by emphasising the importance of standards, especially to support the procurement of goods and services by government bodies. However rather than standards for describing Web content we argue that standards are needed which can be used across the wide range of uses which are being made of the Web, the variety of user contexts and the differences in interpretations of ‘accessibility’ and ‘disability’, especially across developing and developed countries.
Kelly, Brian
dabd527e-7be6-4383-9120-d23f083add70
Hassell, Jonathan
2161b48d-ad7a-46f5-9885-bd9449792c1d
Sloan, David
89fc419b-5c27-4d25-84f9-5f1a37787922
Lukes, Dominik
d55f70c7-ae9a-4395-b107-d79d2fa54748
Draffan, E.A.
021d4f4e-d269-4379-ba5a-7e2ffb73d2bf
Lewthwaite, Sarah
0e26d7cf-8932-4d65-8fea-3dceacf0ea88
Kelly, Brian
dabd527e-7be6-4383-9120-d23f083add70
Hassell, Jonathan
2161b48d-ad7a-46f5-9885-bd9449792c1d
Sloan, David
89fc419b-5c27-4d25-84f9-5f1a37787922
Lukes, Dominik
d55f70c7-ae9a-4395-b107-d79d2fa54748
Draffan, E.A.
021d4f4e-d269-4379-ba5a-7e2ffb73d2bf
Lewthwaite, Sarah
0e26d7cf-8932-4d65-8fea-3dceacf0ea88

Kelly, Brian, Hassell, Jonathan, Sloan, David, Lukes, Dominik, Draffan, E.A. and Lewthwaite, Sarah (2013) Bring your own policy: why accessibility standards need to be contextually sensitive. Ariadne, 71.

Record type: Article

Abstract

Initiatives to enhance Web accessibility have previously focused on the development of guidelines which apply on a global basis. Legislation at national and international levels increasingly mandate conformance with such guidelines. However large scale surveys have demonstrated the failure of such approaches to produce any significant impact.

We review previous critiques of the limitations of such approaches and introduces a new scenario – content for people with learning disabilities – in order to illustrate the limitations of resource-based standards. We describe how BS 8878, a code of practice developed in the UK which provides a standard for the processes used in the development of Web resources, has been deployed in an institutional context.

We conclude by emphasising the importance of standards, especially to support the procurement of goods and services by government bodies. However rather than standards for describing Web content we argue that standards are needed which can be used across the wide range of uses which are being made of the Web, the variety of user contexts and the differences in interpretations of ‘accessibility’ and ‘disability’, especially across developing and developed countries.

Text
kelly-et-al - Other
Available under License Other.
Download (77kB)

More information

Published date: 8 July 2013
Organisations: Web & Internet Science

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 357195
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/357195
PURE UUID: 72bb4d9d-fc18-49ed-9dce-874ffe488ae0
ORCID for E.A. Draffan: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1590-7556
ORCID for Sarah Lewthwaite: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4480-3705

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 04 Oct 2013 13:58
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:51

Export record

Contributors

Author: Brian Kelly
Author: Jonathan Hassell
Author: David Sloan
Author: Dominik Lukes
Author: E.A. Draffan ORCID iD

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×