PAS 78
It's a big day for web accessibility in the UK with the launch and publication of Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 78 
in London. The specification was developed by the Disability Rights Commission in collaboration with the British Standards Institute, providing guidance to those commissioning websites to help them to understand the issues around web accessibility, and to ensure that the work they commission results in accessible sites.
It's attracted plenty of publicity today, including a good piece on BBC News , so here's hoping that it makes a material difference in the months and years to come.
Updates:
- Bruce Lawson's very nice summary of PAS 78
- The Register covers PAS 78 in typically robust fashion: Call for disabled internet revolt
- OUT-LAW: How to commission an accessible website
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Comments
Hmm, yes, I was trying to be positive and avoid panning their site but what the heck! It is a shame they didn't produce a dedicated, accessible site for PAS78 to show a commitment to the very accessibility they're punting. And it's not as if there wasn't time.
But it would be a shame to let it detract from the importance of the guidance. A case of "do as we say not as we do" I suppose.
Posted by: Dan at March 8, 2006 07:31 PM
Great stuff! I wonder if it will make much difference in the web design market. Still doesn't seem terribly great that BSI's accessibility statement is in a Word Document though - hardly accessible for people without Word on their machine :/
Posted by: Dave at March 8, 2006 07:12 PM