Australian Web Accessibility Policies and Guidelines

This page: Government | Libraries | Education | Universities | Industry

Government

Government Policies: Commonwealth | State | International

Commonwealth Government

• Disability Discrimination Act 1992
• A Brief Guide to the Disability Discrimination Act
• HREOC Disability Rights page
• HREOC Disability Discrimination Act WWW Advisory Notes
• Online Council joint media statement – The Online Council adopted WCAG in June 2000 as the “common best practice standard for all Australian government websites”.
• Guidelines for Commonwealth Information Published in Electronic Formats
• Commonwealth Guide to Minimum Web Site Standards – updated April 2003.
  • The Guide to Minimum Web Site Standards – Accessibility
• How To Make Government Internet Sites More Accessible – Component No 9 in the ANAO Internet Delivery Decisions series – “For anyone who uses online services, accessibility means better service at times and places which suit them. This is most important for clients with a disability, but more accessible services make access easier for everyone.”

State Governments

Australia Capital Territory

• ACT Government Website Policy and Guidelines
  • ACT Government Website Policy [PDF Only, 35kb] – May 2004
  • ACT Government Website Development and Management Standard [PDF Only, 451kb] – August 2004

New South Wales

• NSW Government – Providing Information and Services Using the Internet: Guideline – February 2003
  • NSW – Providing Information and Services Using the Internet – Content Accessibility

Northern Territory

• Northern Territory Government Website Guidelines [Word only, 540kb] – November 2001

Queensland

• Queensland Government Internet Information Standard (No. 26) – August 2001

South Australia

• SA Government Website Standards and Protocols – May 2005

Tasmania

• Tasmanian Government Web Publishing Standards – January 2005

Victoria

• Whole of Victorian Government Website Standards – December 2004
  • Whole of Victorian Government Website Standards: Accessibility – October 2004
  • Whole of Victorian Government Web Site Guidelines version 1.1 – March 2002
  • Victorian Government Accessibility Toolkit – March 2003

Western Australia

• WA Guidelines for State Government Web Sites – July 2002
  • WA Guidelines – Accessibility
  • Updates for WA Guidelines for State Government web sites – check this site regularly.

International Policies

• International Government Policies relating to Web accessibility – listing compiled by the Web Accessibility Initiative of the W3C
• ICDRI – Global Legal and Policy Resources
• UN Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities
• US Section 508
  • Section 508 website

Libraries

• National Library of Australia
• New South Wales State Library
• South Australian State Library
• Victorian State Library
  • Disability Awareness Kit for Libraries
• Western Australian State Library
• ALIA Guidelines on library standards for people with disabilities

Education

General Education Standards

• Disability Standards for Education
  • Disability Standards for Education 2005
  • Disability Discrimination Amendment (Education Standards) Bill 2004 – First Reading 17 November 2004
  • Disability Standards for Education Final (2004) Draft, Guidance Notes, and Regulation Impact Statement
  • Most State and Territory Education Ministers Vote Against Disability Standards – Dr Brendan Nelson, Commonwealth Minister for Education, Science & Training, Media Release (July 2003) … “The Commonwealth will move unilaterally to implement the Standards”.
• New South Wales
  • DET Disability Access pages
  • Option KEYS – Developing Accessible Websites – assistance for all TAFE online teams in developing online resources and websites which can be easily accessed by all users.
• The Learning Federation
  • Specifications for The Learning Federation
• IMS Global
  • IMS Accessibility Specifications
  • IMS Guidelines for Developing Accessible Learning Applications – White Paper v1.0
• Other Education related references:
  • EdNA’s “Access for All” resources for Education
  • Courseware Accessibility (University of Toronto)
  • Making Educational Software Accessible (NCAM)
  • Accessibility of the Internet in Post Secondary Education (WebAIM)
  • Accessibility in Distance Education – University of Maryland University College (UMUC) Accessibility in Distance Education (ADE) website targets faculty who are teaching students with disabilities in the online environment. The ADE site explains accessibility problems that students with disabilities are likely to encounter in navigating web-based resources, and shows faculty members how they can address and resolve these problems.

Universities

• General Higher Education
  • AVCC Guidelines on Information Access for Students with Print Disabilities (November 2004)
    – recommends that universities have resources in place to ensure that their websites are fully compliant with the web content accessibility guidelines.
  • National Equity Information and Resources – collates information about programs, research studies, useful resources and trends concerning student equity in tertiary education.
  • How Accessible Are Australian University Web Sites? – reports on a recent (2003) study of the accessibility of Australian university web sites. Dey Alexander concludes that “Web accessibility is poorly understood by university web publishers, and procedures are not in place to ensure that university web sites provide equitable access to important online resources.”
• Australian National University (currently under review)
• The University of Adelaide
• Griffith University
• La Trobe University
• The University of Melbourne
  • The University of Melbourne
  • Arts IT
• Monash University
  • Faculty of Information Technology
  • Faculty of Medicine
  • Library
  • Information Technology Services
• The University of Newcastle
• Queensland University of Technology
• Swinburne University
• University of South Australia
• University of Sydney
  • Library
• University of Tasmania
• The University of Western Australia
• TAFE NSW – Open Training and Education Network
• WANAU – Web Accessibility Network for Australian Universities

Industry Policies & Guidelines

• Australian Bankers Association – Accessibility of Electronic Banking – voluntary standards which aim to improve the accessibility of electronic banking in Australia.
• Internet Industry Association & Australian Interactive Multimedia Industry Association
  • AIMIA Accessibility pages
• Law Reform Foundation
• Overview of Corporate Social Responsibility … BSR defines corporate social responsibility as “achieving commercial success in ways that honor ethical values and respect people, communities, and the natural environment.” They also say that CSR means addressing the legal, ethical, commercial and other expectations society has for business, and making decisions that fairly balance the claims of all key stakeholders.