Re: FN-FORUM: Websites for the disabled

date posted 8th January 2008 11:47

Gary Short wrote:
> -------- Original Message --------
>> From: Brendan Oliver [EMAIL REMOVED]
>> Sent: 08 January 2008 11:30
>> To: "FN-FORUM / [EMAIL REMOVED] [EMAIL REMOVED]
>> Subject: RE: FN-FORUM: Websites for the disabled
>>
>> So a business that has provides a service through a physical premises
>> and has a website is governed differently under this legislation that a
>> purely web based business??
>
> Nope, they are both governed the same. If the chap who has the web site offers a service and that service is only available via the web then it must be accessible. If he/she offers the service by other means, say telephone, then the site does not have to be accessible.
>
> If the chap who has the physical premises makes his premises accessible then his site need not be accessible, though I would argue it would be cheaper to make the site accessible. However, the point still remains, provided a disabled person can access the service via one mechanism then the service provider has complied with the act. That mechanism does not have to be his web site (though it often is).
>


I agree with this. People with Down's Syndrome would need a mechanism
allowing them to talk to someone as a general rule. Even those with
strong forms of dyslexia could possibly claim they were being
discriminated against if they had to read a lot of information through a
website to access a normal service, say visiting the doctor.

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