Access denied: Downing Street's website fails those with disabilities
Updated on 20 August 2008
Downing Street's glossy new website to promote a high-tech image is turning into an online joke, reports Benjamin Cohen.
First a fuss over a humorous film about the Jeremy Clarkson for PM campaign apparently showing that the Prime Minister has a sense of humour - but more seriously, tests for More4 News have found the site fails the government's own guidelines on accessibility for people with disabilities.
Downing Street said its website would be disability-friendly by the end of the year.
The Ability Net tests for More4 News found -
The site is unusable with text in the largest settings, failing those with partial site. When it comes to those who have more severe sight loss, it cannot be used by screen reading technology for those who are blind.
None of the videos has captions or transcripts, and neither are they keyboard-accessible. If you can't use a mouse, you can't load them.
No pages reach the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) guidelines for accessibility which means the site is not compatible with all web browsers.
The virtual tour of Downing Street has no descriptions that would allow people with partial sight to understand the content.
Finally, the site is designed in a way that will make it hard for those with cognitive learning difficulties to use.
