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W 3 A Australia Sponsors Accessibility Category at WA Web Awards

12 August 2005 - W 3 A Australia Pty Ltd General Manager, Mr Alex Jamieson, announced today that they are sponsoring the Accessibility category at the inaugural WA Web Awards to be held at the Parmelia Hilton Perth, on Friday 19 August 2005.

Mr. Jamieson comments We are proud to be sponsors of the Accessibility category of the WA Web Awards as we believe that the web should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability. This category awards those web designers who have gone out of their way to ensure that their designs do not exclude anybody.

Under the Disability Discrimination Act of 1992 all websites in Australia are required not to discriminate against people with disabilities.

Web accessibility is not just about people with disabilities though. It is about inclusion of all web citizens, whether you may have a disability or may have a slow access link or maybe even that you are using a PDA. The internet is not the exclusive domain of able bodied persons with high-spec workstations and oodles of download bandwidth. This must be taken into account when designing sites.

There are direct business benefits for companies who ensure that their sites are accessible. By adhering to the principles of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) your pages will be smaller and thus quicker to download. Your visitors will experience a more snappy response and the load on your server will be reduced. The maintenance of your site will be easier with an associated reduction in costs.

The disabled community is still under-represented on the internet with many websites today shutting the door in their face. said Miles Burke, Chairperson of Port 80, the organisation behind the WA Web Awards. We must do what we can to encourage the web industry to take Australian disabled users into account he added.

In Australia there are 40 000 registered businesses owned and operated by people who are blind, so even as a B2B supplier there is a section of the market that you could lose out on if your site is not accessible.

Jamieson concludes: As sponsors of this award we hope to promote the importance of web accessibility to developers and decision makers alike.

About W 3 A Australia Pty Ltd

W 3 A Australia Pty Ltd is an independent website audit company in Australia. Services offered include a range of audits and certification of internet, intranets and extranets websites to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and the Australian Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1992.

The company also aims to promote the issue of website accessibility as well as helping website designers to design more accessible websites by showing them that accessible sites do not have to be dull and boring. This is achieved through demonstrating the different accessibility techniques in our training courses.

W 3 A Australia Pty Ltd is part of a group of companies including Alpha Squared Solutions Ltd in the UK and W 3 A Limited in New Zealand.

About the WA Web Awards

The Western Australian Web Awards (WAWAs) has been established to showcase the outstanding work of West Australian web designers and developers. The event is organised by Port 80 Inc, the WA Web Industry Association, the only state based organisation of its kind in Australia.

See www.wawebawards.com.au and www.port80.asn.au for more information.

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