In 1995 a new era of accessibility for disabled people began in the UK. The DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) was passed, stating that: “It's unlawful for a service provider to discriminate against a disabled person by refusing to provide any service which it provides to members of the public.”

A website is regarded as a service and the RNIB (Royal National Institute for the Blind) and DRC (Disability Rights Commission) have been quick to apply pressure on to organisations to push this law into practice. Indeed, the DRC has now published a report on its formal investigation into 1000 websites.

So, how do disabled people access the Internet?

Blind users
Internet users who have no sight at all utilize a screen reader, which reads the content of the web page, or rather the HTML code of the page, back to them. These machines sift through the HTML code and the technology deciphers what needs to be read aloud and what should be ignored. You can download the IBM Homepage Reader for a free 30-day trial. Once you've downloaded it, go to your website, turn your monitor off, and try to navigate your website.

Partial/poor sight
To take full advantage of the Internet, users with partial or poor sight need to be able to enlarge the text on web pages. Check if your website allows them to achieve this:

• Internet Explorer: View > Text size
• Netscape: Edit > Preferences > Appearance > Fonts
• Opera: File > Preferences > Fonts > Minimum font size (pixels)

If your site is accessible to this group of users then the size of the text throughout the page will increase. Users with poor vision might also use a screen magnifier.

Colour blindness
It's estimated that one in 12 men and one in 200 women have some form of colour blindness. You can check how Internet users with different strains of colour blindness are viewing your website with Vischeck.

Deaf users
Deaf users are able to access the Internet in much the same way as able-bodied people, with one key exception - audio content. If it's a key function of your website for people to be able to hear a message, then be sure to provide a written transcript.

Keyboard/voice only users
Some of your site users don't have access to a mouse when browsing the Internet. Try putting yourself in their position by navigating your website using only tab, shift-tab, and the return key.

Other users
Other people who may access your website that have disadvantages include:

• Epileptic users who must always be careful to avoid seeing flickering between 2 and 55 Hz
• Web users from outside your industry who may not understand industry jargon or acronyms
• Web users whose first language is not English and who may not be able to comprehend complicated language

To really put yourself in the position of one of these web users try out the DRC's inaccessible website demonstration.