Nomensa assess the accessibility of UK University websites

Bristol, 18th June 2003 - According to new research conducted by Nomensa, the digital design company specialising in human centred design, one in every three University websites fail to meet minimum accessibility requirements, subsequently failing disabled students across the UK.

The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (SENDA), that came into force last September, introduces the right for disabled students not to be discriminated against in education, training and any services provided wholly or mainly for them.

Nomensa conducted an investigation into the accessibility of the Top 100 university web sites in the UK and found that only two thirds of the sample homepages met basic accessibility guidelines, set out by the international body W3C for Internet accessibility. Likewise, only three Universities scored top Marks - The University of York, The University of Manchester Institute of Science and The University of Wales, Swansea

Simon Norris, managing director of Nomensa and co-chair of the Digital Content Forum's newly formed Industry Action Group for Web Standards, commented:

"Although many universities have made steps to improve the accessibility of their online information there is still a lot more work to be done before they are fully compliant with SENDA legislation - ensuring that all students, regardless of their physical ability, have their basic rights met. A potential student will often form their first impression or the university from the website. If he or she cannot access the relevant information, they will be made to feel unwelcome and unwanted. Therefore, if universities want to attract best of breed students, from all walks of life, they need to invest as much into their websites as they would into their lecture theatres."

University web sites are often huge with a large number of different groups adding content on a daily basis - making the task of reworking content significant. The key to improving this situation is through training key staff to ensure that new content is accessible and then empowering them to spread the knowledge throughout the organisation. It is important to first make the web site comply and then maintain that standard in the future.

For further information, please contact Leonie Watson.