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News Archive

June 2004

30 June 2004 – Tesco.com Tops for Accessibility?

Computing and disability charity, AbilityNet, recently released its latest State of the eNation report. In the report, the separate accessible online service provided by Tesco received praise (article on out-law.com) for its efforts to make its online shopping more accessible, gaining “four out of five stars”. The other four websites surveyed did not fair so well, the next highest scoring website with two stars.

While the supermarkets reached higher standards than the airline, newspaper and online banking websites surveyed in the previous eNation reports, there is much more that should be done to improve the state of Web Accessibility. Many companies are under the misapprehension that October 2004 is the deadline for addressing the accessibility of their websites, when it has been a legal requirement since 1999. Others believe that a text-only version of their website is an adequate long-term provision, unaware of the inadequacies and disadvantages of that approach.

Radio 4's In Touch programme recently discussed how visually impaired people shop, both online and at the supermarket. One of the guests said that she uses Sainsbury's for online shopping and is quite able to use their site, despite the “one out of five stars” it received. As a Web Developer and advocate of accessible design on the Web, the guest was not supportive of Tesco's approach of using a separate accessible site.

All this goes to show that articles in the papers or reports you may read are not always the best indicators of how websites affect visitors. While the recent AbilityNet report makes some good points, the information it presents can be misinterpreted. Be wary of what you read. It is important to get the facts straight. There are many reliable resources on the Web, and a good place to start is AccessibleNet.org.

22 June 2004 – AbilityNet Releases Report on Accessibility of Online Shopping Services

The fourth State of the eNation report from AbilityNet announces that only one of the four websites studied by their survey meets basic accessibility guidelines. As one of the largest markets on the Web, most online shopping sites do not seem to be making the most of it.