Some people believe that having an accessible website means that it’s ‘live’ and you can access it from a computer or mobile device. Others think about ramps, lifts, access maps and disabled toilets for the physical location that a website might be pointing visitors to. The truth is, being ‘accessible’ online is a whole lot more than that. And that ‘whole lot more’ is simply not clearly understood by the majority of people who build, code, design, write, or project manage websites.
Looking to upskill? Listen to this podcast and read the transcript about the six-week online Professional Certificate in Web Accessibility (PCWA) course. It offers graduates an internationally recognised qualification and was recently honoured by the respected Knowbility group in the USA by making their 2017 list of ‘Heroes of Accessibility’ in their ‘Educational Achievement’ category.
Listen to a recent interview where Senior PCWA Course Lecturer and global accessibility expert, Dr Scott Hollier, talks with Media Access Australia’s Philip Jenkinson about what the PCWA course covers, along with the benefits of studying it, in a fascinating podcast.
Continue reading PCWA provides accessibility expertise for the web, digital comms and apps
Inaccessible websites are attracting more litigation than ever before. On 15 June 2017 a Federal Judge in California allowed a blind plaintiff to continue his lawsuit against US retailer, Hobby Lobby, on the inaccessibility of their website, overturning the defendant’s demand for the case to be dismissed. This news comes after another Judge, in Florida, found the Winn Dixie retail chain guilty of discrimination for their inaccessible website one week earlier.
In what is set to be a landmark decision with increasingly global implications, a Florida Federal Judge handed down a trial verdict of website inaccessibility finding that Winn Dixie had violated Title III of the ADA by having a website that could not be used by the legally blind plaintiff.
Continue reading More companies being sued for website inaccessibility