Internet Industry Association

The Internet Industry Association (IIA), Australia's national body for the Internet, supported by the Australian Interactive Multimedia Industry Association (AIMIA), today released their Accessible Web Action Plan to address this problem.

Internet Industry Association

N  E  W  S      R  E  L  E  A  S  E

6 September 2002

For Immediate Release
 
Towards a More Accessible Internet

Improving access to web sites will increase the Internet experience for thousands of Australians. Currently many Australians cannot enjoy the Internet to the same extent as Australians without disabilities or who are located in a metropolitan area.

The Internet Industry Association (IIA), Australia's national body for the Internet, supported by the Australian Interactive Multimedia Industry Association (AIMIA), today released their Accessible Web Action Plan to address this problem.  Full details of the Accessible Web Action Plan are available at  http://www.iia.net.au/awap.html.

Gaynor Gravestock, Chair of the IIA Taskforce who developed the Plan, says "There are great benefits to all organisations who adopt website accessibility.  It just doesn't make good business sense to turn so many customers away by building a web site for the minority."

In releasing the Action Plan, IIA chief executive, Peter Coroneos said: "It has always been the case that good design adds value. Our message is that accessible design adds usability. This initiative aims to help the whole industry understand and implement best practice in accessible design, from specification through to execution."

AIMIA Executive Director Lynne Spender says "AIMIA members are well aware that accessibility is fundamental to good design, good business practice and good citizenship. We encourage the industry to adopt accessibility best practice by making it one of the essential criteria for judging our annual industry awards."

The IIA's Digital Bridge Taskforce, in association with AIMIA, and with public consultation, developed the Plan recommending the adoption of the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines as the common best practice guide for all Australian websites.  Using the Guidelines will also mean websites will provide information in a non-discriminatory way.

In support of the Plan, Liz Armstrong, Manager of the Australian W3C Office says "The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) congratulates the IIA and AIMIA for their efforts in making the Web accessible to everyone everywhere.  It is very pleasing for all the people from around the world who have been involved in developing the outputs of the W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) to see influential industry groups such as the IIA and AIMIA embrace and promote WAI's guidelines to contribute to leading the Web to its full potential."

The National Office for the Information Economy welcomed the release of the Accessible Web Action Plan.  NOIE acknowledged the significance of the plan as it will complement NOIE's strong interest in improving the webaccessibility of Australian government websites.

So who will benefit from improved accessibility to web sites?  It seems that the majority of Australians will benefit in some way.  According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 18% of Australians have some form of disability; 12% of the Australian population is over 65; 16.9% of the Australian population speak a language other than English at home; In 1996 almost 50% of Australians 15-74 had poor literacy skills and could be expected to experience difficulty using many of the printed materials they encounter in everyday life.  Added to this up to 30% of Australians experience their Internet connection at less than 14.4k, whereas in the metropolitan areas 56k or broadband are accepted as the norm.

Gaynor Gravestock, Chair of the IIA Taskforce says "IIA's membership includes design companies, IT service providers, telecommunications services, law firms and a range of private businesses providing their services through the Internet. This is the first web accessibility plan in Australia to be developed covering such a broad range of services."

"And in addition to the Plan, we have also assisted organisations, marketers and web developers by providing a set of useful online resources, including links to tools such as voice synthesisers, that are available at http://www.iia.net.au/digitalbridgevt.html."

For further comment contact:

Peter Coroneos, Chief Executive IIA (02) 6232 6900
For TTY callers, please call 133 677 and ask for (02) 6232 6900)
Lynne Spender, Executive Director, AIMIA (02) 9252 4938
NOIE Mr Peter Huta, Manager Community Connectivity (02) 6271 1047

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About the IIA
The Internet Industry Association is Australia's national Internet industry organisation. Members include telecommunications carriers; content creators and publishers; web developers; e-commerce traders and solutions providers; hardware vendors; systems integrators; banks, insurance underwriters; Internet law firms, ISPs; educational and training institutions; Internet research analysts; and a range of other businesses providing professional and technical support services. On behalf of its members, the IIA provides policy input to government and advocacy on a range of business and regulatory issues, to promote laws and initiatives which enhance access, equity, reliability and growth of the medium within Australia.