Disabled Call On Website Owners To ‘Fix The Web’

For most people nowadays, accessing the Internet is a piece of cake. But to over six million disabled and older Brits, easy access does not necessarily mean easy web navigation.

To help make their virtual life less of a struggle, Citizens Online, a national charity promoting digital inclusion, has launched its ‘Fix the Web‘ campaign to highlight the lack of accessibility among disabled and older web-users.

Designed for Limited Accessibility

According to the organisation, most websites are not designed with accessibility for all in mind. Major problems include sites that

• do not support screen readers
• use text that is difficult to read
• prevent non-mouse users from accessing the site

Blind users said they lose around 30 percent of their time due to the inaccessibility issue. Many find web navigating a nightmare.

“I do most of my shopping online, especially at Christmas, as it’s more convenient,” said Leonie Watson, who is blind. “I’m surprised by how many retailers just don’t get accessibility. If their website isn’t accessible with my screen reader, I won’t spend my money there. It’s basic business logic really – more accessibility, more people, more potential revenue.”

Funded by the Nominet Trust, a British foundation supporting online access,  Fix the Web aims to tackle the inaccessibility problem on a massive scale.

It provides an easy way for web-users to file complaints – usually taking less than a minute –  while using a tech-volunteer-driven process to report those complaints to website owners.

“I believe many techies would be horrified to think that the web they love so much is excluding people,” said Dr. Gail Bradbrook of Citizens Online (left). “I firmly believe that this isn’t a problem disabled people should have to deal with on their own. It’s time a committed group of tech volunteers took charge of the issue and made it their own.”

The project expects to have 10,000 volunteers dealing with 250,000 websites within two years of launch.

Britain Pused to Be Network Nation

The Fix the Web project mirrors the effort of Martha Lane Fox, co-founder of Lastminute.com and UK digital champion.

Lane Fox aims to get poor and elderly people online and close the digital gap in Britain.

Backed by Prime Minister David Cameron, her effort is to get around ten million of the UK’s poorest households online.