Is Your Website Ready?
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Governments around the world
are considering legislation to enforce new WCAG 2.0 Internet standards. Here in
Ontario, our government is in the process of finalizing the scope of the
program before it is passed into law. The intention of this law is to enforce
strict coding specifications on websites to ensure they are easily
accessible
to people with disabilities, mostly those with hearing and vision
impairments. Although the intent is admirable, the fines being
considered for non-compliance are extreme, as high as $10,000/day! Compliance Answers In most cases NO, but it can be ready with some initial effort and will be easy to keep compliant afterwards.
Why is my website not automatically compliant? Websites are made up of 3 basic parts. First, there is the template we designed for you which must be re-coded with these new standards installed. Next there is the content you enter through SiteApex which requires you to take a couple of extra steps when adding elements such as photos. Finally there is the programming we have already completed which structures how the SiteApex modules organize and display content within your website?s templates.
Are my templates compliant? If your template is under a year old, we need to do a quick audit and
possibly a few tweaks for it to be compliant. If it is older we will
likely need to redesign your template. In addition to compliancy, a
newer template has many other advantages including better search engine
optimization, more feature rich options, and a wider screen area. Complete the form below and we will contact you with an estimate.
What about SiteApex? There are two methods for entering content into SiteApex, the content
you enter through the Editor and the content you enter through the
modules. The module compliancy is now complete in SiteApex version
4.11.00 which we have just released. We can show you how to stay
compliant using the SiteApex Editor.
Will this increase the annual fee? We would like to continue our annual subscription price of $579/year, but this may have to increase slightly to offset the sizable expense that was required to complete the project. We will know more once the total cost is calculated. Since all of our customers may need to spend some additional money on compliance we are trying to maintain our current subscription price. |
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When will this legislation be passed?
We spoke directly to the government agency overseeing this change. Initially they had hoped it would be ready in 2012, but it was taking longer than anticipated to work out the details. There is now more information about these details in the link provided at right. The public (government) websites are the first to be required to comply ? which many are now, or are in the process of becoming. The private (business and non-profit) websites are next.
Is there a problem if my website is not compliant?
Part of this legislation is the outlining of penalties for those who do not comply with the delineated standards. Most of these penalties will come in the form of fines. A non-compliant institution can be fined as much $10,000 per day until the website is brought up to the set standards. As you can see, the government does not view compliance as optional which is why we have been so proactive about overhauling SiteApex to be in observance.
Is there a benefit to being compliant?
Yes. New technology has made computing accessible to people with physical disabilities, but the Internet is still a huge hurdle for many. Not only are you assisting those without adequate access to the information available online, but you are expanding your customer demographic.
Getting Your Website Compliant
Please complete our WCAG form if you would like to know more about becoming compliant to meet the AccessON criteria.
If you would like to know about getting your website compliant, please complete the form below. We will contact each person who owns an Ultimate Website in the order we receive your requests.
