PAS 78 is a Guide to Good Practise in Commissioning Accessible websites. The purpose of this guide is to recommend that web designers uphold the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) and other W3C recommendations.

PAS78 is useful for website commissioners and developers alike. It doesn’t explain how to build accessible sites instead it explains how to assure quality in the development of an accessible website.

The Disability Discrimination Act placed a legal duty on ‘service providers’ since October 1999 to ensure that it’s not unreasonably difficult for disabled people to use their sites.

In 2004 the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) undertook a study that revealed 81% of sites were failing to meet basis requirements. The DRC estimate that there are around 10 million disabled people in the UK most of which are likely to be users with an estimated spending power in the region of £80 billion per annum.  The potential for ROI is huge.

It may take a little more time to build an accessible website with accessible content but apart from the possibility of increased business your website will be viewed by people with older browsers. Also because PAS 78 is endorsed by the DRC it could be used in future court cases, something all website owners should be aware of.

In future many clients are going to demand their web designers uphold PAS78 and only designers with an understanding of the requirements will be able to meet their needs. Broxden has recently taken the initiative in this area and any new client with this requirement will have their site build to PAS 78 guidelines.