Photo opportunity, 1.45pm, Friday July 19, West Park Conference Centre, Perth Rd, Dundee.
The University of Dundee's Digital Media Access Group (DMAG) will lend its support this week to a campaign to make the Internet fully accessible to blind and partially sighted people.
Offering a consultancy service to businesses and organisations, the DMAG advises on the technical aspects of making websites accessible and works to promote web accessibility.
The DMAG will attend a roadshow at the University, organised by the Royal National Institute of the Blind on Friday July 19. The aim of the event is to encourage businesses and organisations to consider the positive impact the Internet can have on a blind person's life and how they can go about making their websites fully accessible. Local businesses have been invited to the event.
The invention and growth of the World Wide Web has meant that many blind and partially sighted people are now able to enjoy a wealth of information that was previously unavailable to them, from news and local information to timetables and online shopping and banking. With the help of synthesised speech and Braille display technology, people with little or no sight can use the internet with ease.
For these technologies to work properly, web pages must be coded correctly. Many sites are unusable by blind people simply because they are not coded in correct HTML (hypertext mark-up language), or rely on the use of software that has not been developed to be usable by people with disabilities.
David Sloan, DMAG, project leader said, "We are happy to support this RNIB roadshow because much of the work we do is aimed at making the Internet fully accessible to blind people and those with other disabilities. It can make a massive difference to the quality of their lives and can allow them to participate more fully in society."
Julie Howell, leader of the RNIB's Campaign for Good Web Design said, "Many of the companies we speak to are keen to address the issue because they wish to demonstrate a practical understanding of their social responsibility towards people with disabilities. Others are persuaded by the business case - in the UK, disabled people as a group have a combined annual spending power estimated to be around £45bn.
"Unfortunately, many businesses seem unaware of the issue, and unaware that section 21 of the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act requires that public web sites are accessible to people with disabilities."
Note to Editors
The Digital Media Access Group - Consultancy and Research into Accessibility and Usability of Digital Media. The group has been Working in the field since 1998.
The group offers consultancy in accessible and usable design, and can provide custom accessibility reports of web sites.