The WAI Day Messages

The Web Accessibility Information (WAI) that is of concern provides for universal web access. The purpose of this presentation is to quickly show what is causing concern and what can be done about it.

We want to show everyone that their awareness counts. More specifically, that:

• a little effort from everyone can make a big difference
• it only takes one champion per organisation for the organisation to have a constructive awareness of the problem
• it is everyone's problem - website commissioners, website builders and web users
• the beneficiaries of universal access are everyone - disabilities community, us all as we get older, users of alternative browsing devices and the forthcoming web-networked devices
• and we should remember that in some circumstances there are legal implications for those who choose to turn their backs on this problem.

• be familiar with and follow the WAI guidelines so the problem does not arise
• think separately about metadata, website structures, content and presentation (or layout)
• aim for HTML 4.0 strict and use cascading style sheets where possible
• verify the universal design of both the HTML syntax and the layout

• W3C/WAI/IPO is already doing what needs to be done - it is more effective to join them than try to duplicate them, and
• making websites for public use is not for amateurs. Long term, we will pay a high price if we do not recognise that we must have properly built websites for public use.

Currently there is no simple way to produce universally accessible websites other than by following the guidelines and applying them to the website's metadata, structure, content and layout.