24 July 2006

The British Standards Institution (BSI) has announced that it is making its accessibility guide available for free.

Normally priced at £30, PAS 78: Guide to Good Practice in Commissioning Accessible Websites offers non-technical readers information on how to build accessible websites, particularly those used by people with a disability.

The document, available from the Disability Rights Commission (DRC), covers defining an accessibility policy for the website, contracting web design and accessibility audit services and accessibility testing and maintenance.

According to Out-Law, a website operated by law firm Pinsent Masons, many of its readers felt that the guide's price barred people from accessing the information within it.

Alyson Rose, a spokeswoman for the DRC, the organisation which commissioned the report, said: "We had to charge. We had no choice in the matter and we were under pressure to get the document out."

The move has been welcomed by the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB).

Julie Howell, digital development manager at the RNIB, told the Out-Law website: "RNIB is delighted.

"Not only businesses but also those who advocate accessibility – individual web designers and increasing numbers of disabled people – are now able to read it and tell others about it."

© Adfero Ltd

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