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Australian Web Accessibility Policies and Guidelines
On this page:
Government Policies
Commonwealth Government
- Disability Discrimination Act 1992
- 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".
- Web Publishing Guide - updated April 2003.
- 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
New South Wales
Northern Territory
Queensland
South Australia
Tasmania
- Tasmanian Government Web Publishing Standards - January 2005
Victoria
- Whole of Victorian Government Website Standards - November 2004
- Whole of Victorian Government Website Standards: Accessibility - October 2005
- Whole of Victorian Government Web Site Guidelines version 1.1 - March 2002
- Victorian Government Accessibility Toolkit - July 2002
Western Australia
- WA Guidelines for State Government Web Sites - July 2002. Note: the WA Guidelines for State Government Web Sites are currently (Mid-2005) being updated.
- Making Information Accessible - Disability Services Commission
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
Libraries
- National Library of Australia
- New South Wales State Library
- South Australian State Library
- Victorian State Library
- Western Australian State Library
- ALIA Guidelines on library standards for people with disabilities
Education
Disability Standards for Education
- Disability Standards for Education 2005
- Disability Standards for Education 2005 - Attorney General's discussion August 2005 - includes links to Guidance Notes and the Regulation Impact Statement
- New Disability Standards for Education - The Hon Philip Ruddock MP, Attorney General, and The Hon Dr Brendan Nelson MP, Misinister for Education, Science and Training, Media Release (August 2005)
- Disability Standards for Education 2005 background - Dept Education Science and Training
- Bills Digest No. 49 - a discussion of the Disability Discrimination Amendment (Education Standards) Bill 2004 from the Parliamentary Library
- Disability Discrimination Amendment (Education Standards) Bill 2004 - First Reading 17 November 2004
- Disability Standards for Education Final (2004) Draft - contains 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
- The Learning Federation Accessibility Specification (PDF, 199kb)
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) AVCC Guidelines (PDF; 194kb); AVCC Guidelines (Word; 184kb) - 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)
- Web Accessibility Network for Australian Universities
- The University of Adelaide
- Griffith University:
- Overview of Griffith Web Standards
- Griffith University Web Policies
- Five Key Habit Changes for Better Accessibility
- Deakin University
- La Trobe University
- The University of Melbourne
- Monash University
- RMIT University
- Swinburne University
- The University of Newcastle
- Queensland University of Technology
- James Cook University
- University of South Australia
- University of Sydney:
- Unversity 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.
- Electronic financial services - a review of progress by the Human Rights Commission (July 2005)
- Accessibility of Banking Services - ABA Press Release (7 July 2005)
- 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.