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Posted by Richard Quick on 05/25/05 19:50
"Travis Newbury" <TravisNewbury@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:tg1le.14677$bD5.9366@fe07.lga...
> Richard Quick wrote:
> >>>otherwise the site's not accessible (and therefore illegal).
> >>Not illegal, but some government agency's will not use it
> > Sorry - writing this in the UK - it's illegal here (and Australia I
> > believe).
>
> Interesting thought. My [fictitious] company selling widgets in the US,
> has a site that while being inaccessible, is not illegal in the US. Can
> someone from the UK sue based on UK law? Even though the site was not
> meant for them to use, they do have access to it as the web is
> international.
No.
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 is the piece of legislation that
makes it illegal to have an inaccessible website. Under the DDA
organisations are required to make 'reasonable adjustments' to ensure their
goods, services and buildings can be accessed by people with disabilities.
For instance shops sre now required to provide wheelchair access (where
reasonable) and employers have to make reasonable adjustments to ensure
disabled people can work for them (for instance installing special software
on computers).As a piece of UK law it only applies to individuals or
organisations in the UK. Similarly, as a US company importing to the UK you
would not be subject to UK labour laws.
> And if this is so, can someone in Australia sue a French site because
> they do not an English version f the site? (Addressing the lawsuit
> against the Olympic site in Australia)
No. In the UK and Australia it's illegal to discriminate against disabled
people. Being French is not, to the best of my knowledge, a disability.
> If this continues every site will have to be accessible
Which would be a good thing...
> and have a version in every language.
Google can do a pretty good job of this anyway...
>
> Can you see how retarded this could get?
Erm ... perhaps not the best choice of words
;o)
--
Richard Quick
http://www.chocolatemagazine.co.uk
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