The UK government replies to Web Accessibility ePetition
March 16th, 2007
News just in, the Prime Minister’s Office has just responded to the e-petition calling for all UK government websites to comply with web accessibility standards.
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About
That Standards Guy is the online persona of Karl Dawson, a web developer living and working in Ipswich, England.
I'm a member of the Guild of Accessible Web Designers and the Web Standards Group and team member at Accessites—an awards site to recognise accessible and usable websites.
I specialise as a front-end developer and worry about the minutae of semantic (X)HTML and CSS, accessibility, microformats, typographic rhythm and grid design. I also care about the user experience and remind myself constantly of visitor site goals when working with clients and their aims.
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Meh. Not sure what we should have expected to come from the petition, but I can’t say I’m encouraged or comforted by that response.
March 16th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
Yeah, it doesn’t say anything really.
March 16th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
This is something of a issue for me.
On the one hand, standards are essential, while on the other hand, the current web standards count for nothing while Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is effectively crippled and doesn’t work with the current web standards as fully as it should.
So the government put together legislation that requires compliance, even though the principle web browser doesn’t fully support them.
Might I be so bold as to suggest that the government apply some pressure on Microsoft?
March 17th, 2007 at 5:18 pm