Director, TomW Communications Pty Ltd and Visiting Fellow, Australian
National University
For Open Publish Asia Pacific
2002, 11.15am, Tuesday July 30, Star City Casino, Darling Harbour,
Sydney, Australia
See Slides
Abstract
Section 508 of the U.S. 1974 Rehabilitation Act prohibits U.S. federal
agencies from using web and electronic publication technologies that are
inaccessible to people with disabilities. There has been successful legal
action in Australia against a web site provider for discrimination against
the disabled. Given there are guidelines available in the USA and Australia
to make electronic documents accessible by the disabled and laws requiring
their use, why aren't accessible documents more common? Tom Worthington
relates his experience as a consultant working with government an industry on
web accessibility.
Contents
- Web Site and the Disabled: The SOCOG Olympic Web Case
- Government and Industry: More Implementation Than Understanding
- Accessibility Standards in Australia
- Make flexible electronic documents and them make them accessible
BIO
Tom Worthington is a Visiting Fellow in the
Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Engineering and Information
Technology at the Australian National University. He is an electronic
business consultant, author of the book Net Traveller and information
technology professional, with 17 years experience. Tom was an expert witness
on the accessibility of the Sydney Olympic Web Site in the Human Rights and
Equal Opportunity Commission in August 2000. He consults on web policy and
teaches web design and e-commerce.
See also:
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