Australian government websites set to become more accessible
01 March 2010
The Australian Government has formally endorsed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.0. This marks a positive step towards the accessibility of government websites for all Australians and will bring Australia in line with international approaches to make the internet more accessible.
The announcement was made last week by Minister for Finance and Deregulation, Lindsay Tanner and Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities, Bill Shorten.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.0, or WCAG 2.0 as they are more commonly known, is widely recognised as international best-practice on web accessibility.
Vision Australia, who were actively involved in the development of WCAG 2.0, have welcomed the announcement, particularly the introduction of a National Transition Strategy that requires all government websites to become compliant by 2015.
"With more and more information and services being available online, ensuring that websites and web-based services are accessible to people who are blind or have low vision is essential for people to actively participate in their community," said Damien McCormack, National Manager Online Accessibility.
Vision Australia provides a range of accessibility workshops to assist organisations understand what they need to do to meet WCAG 2.0 and learn practical steps to create accessible websites.
