Big Big News
50% UK's Top International Law Firms have no 'reasonable adjustments' tools for communication disabilities as prescribed by the DDA - Disabilities Discrimination Acts.
The 'Big, Big Difference Campaign - Accessibility Top 10 of UK Organisations' charts highlight the situation of varied commitment to what we call ‘communication diversity’. Communication diversity does include disability such as physical or visual impairment, but goes much wider, encompassing those with difficulties that would not be classed as a disability. e.g. most estimates say approx 4% of people are severely dyslexic but 10% are on the dyslexic scale; and a UK population of 7 million functionally illiterate is a significant communcation disability (UN statistics).
The Big, Big Difference Campaign www.hiddendifferences.com highlights up to a potential 50% of the population with communication needs and the other 50% with communcation preferences; and stresses the further potential of up to 21% increase in effectiveness of all organisational communication, marketing and advertising using multi-sensory communication, whether or not people have difficulties – see Cisco study in article below.
Article by Kevin M Thomson FCIM. Founder and President Hidden Differences; 'Communication Diversity – A Big, Big Problem - or Opportunity?'
Background
The number of people who are prevented from web and intranet usage through communication difficulties is far beyond the number of disabled users with visual/physical needs. These difficulties include literacy, languages, learning and performance at work through hidden difficulties like dyslexia /dyspraxia.
Since the introduction of the UK DDA (Disability Discrimination Acts) 1995 and 2005 apart from the odd case (like the Metropolitan Police v a dyslexic Inspector – a ‘landmark’ ruling) there have been no major cases in the UK on communication diversity/disability issues when accessing web or intranet sites. This is the communication equivalent of a ‘ramps’ issue.
Until recently the only major internationally recognised case was a blind user suing the Sydney Olympics – he won.
Now it is changing - the US is now beginning to wake up to the issues of ‘hidden differences’ like dyslexia with the Target.com class action lawsuit. N.B. The Talklets solution with PAWS! Hot Keys for blind/disabled users, and other tools, offered by Hidden Differences has its first major US client who cited Target lawsuit case as a key reason for action.
The overall result of the reaction to the DDA, see table, is that for the vast majority of organisations DDA = Don't Do Anything in the UK. This is not the case in the US now,. The Americans with Disabilities Act ADA in the US after Target now might just stand for 'About to Deliver Accessibility!'
The UK now has an even more stringent law, the DDA 2005 which goes even further for public bodies that (in summary) they need the 4P’s – written Policy, Procedures, Practices, Panels i.e. research of users to assess latest technology and applications on their sites for reasonable adjustments. Surely for all advisors and suppliers to government, schools, public services etc they should look to providing these too, which is why we have included ‘Policy’ in the Top 10 criteria; as well as ‘Search’. It is not unreasonable for someone to try to search for accessibility if it is not a home page link.
Conclusion
'Accessibility' is not just a navigational issue catered for by W3C compliance – what use navigational access if millions of people cannot read?
The future of Web 2.0 i.e. user based communication rests on delivering access to all. The way to do that is multi-sensory accessibility with sight, sound and sense creating tools, thus creating ‘rich media’ for all – see www.welladjusted.org.uk for guidelines see ‘The Great Communication Guide’.
Whilst ‘hidden’ difficulties in communication are not as obvious as visual/physical disability it needs addressing legally, socially and commercially as a huge external market and revenue potential is lost and internal performance reduced.
For more information contact – Legal; Sally Thomson Barrister Director of Culture and Compliance Hidden Differences. General Information Kevin Thomson President Hidden Differences 01628 407362
