The United Nations contracted Nomensa to conduct this audit on Internet accessibility for persons with disabilities. The audit, the first of its kind, investigated the accessibility of 100 leading websites from 20 countries from around the world.
The aim of the survey, which was not intended to be exhaustive, was to obtain an indication concerning the existing status of accessibility of websites that people with disabilities might access as part of their daily lives.
The Report
Focusing on Articles 21(c) and 9(g) of the Draft Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, five sectors were chosen. Each sector was intended to reflect a key area of interaction for people online:
- Travel (airlines);
- Finance (banking);
- Media (newspapers);
- Politics (central government representative);
- Retail (shops).
A website was chosen to represent each sector of the 20 countries, forming a matrix of 100 websites to be included in the audit. The homepage of each website was measured against the globally recognised benchmark for web accessibility: The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 1.0 (WCAG 1.0).
Key Findings
Of the 100 homepages evaluated during the audit, only three achieved Single-A accessibility—the basic accessibility rating:
- German Chancellor’s site (http://www.bundeskanzlerin.de);
- Spanish Government’s site (http://www.la-moncloa.es/default.htm);
- British Prime Minister’s site (http://www.primeminister.gov.uk/).
The performance across different sectors was varied, with central government, retail and banking offering the strongest (or joint strongest) accessibility performance across all countries.
Levels of web accessibility across the 20 countries were lower than anticipated, given the presence of disability legislation in some countries and the fact that the WCAG have been in existence for over half a decade. Apart from the three sites that achieved Single-A accessibility, there is a global failure to provide the most basic level of web accessibility for people with disabilities.
Obtaining a copy
To receive an Executive Summary of the United Nations Global Audit of Accessibility Research, or to discuss this further, please contact us by emailing on info@nomensa.com or by telephone on 0117 929 7333.
