Bruce Maguire Versus Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG)



Get Web Design Tips and Tricks on mps-web-design.com. Bruce Maguire Versus Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) topic will increase your understanding on Web Design Tips and Tricks. We at mps-web-design.com only provide news, articles, information in Web Design Tips and Tricks. Web Design Tips and Tricks at mps-web-design.com provides the most up to date news and articles. If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

A summary of the seminal case relating to Inaccessible Websites and Disability Discrimination Legislation

In June 1999 Bruce Maguire lodged a complaint with the Human Rights & Equal Opportunities Commission under the Australian Disability Discrimination Act. His complaint was that he was being discriminated against because he could not access the contents of the Olympic Games website.

As a highly skilled user of a refreshable Braille display he was used to being able to access the content of web pages, however, he was unable to access important content on the Olympic Games website.

He won the case, but the Olympic Committee did not make the required changes, and subsequently he was awarded $20,000 dollars in compensation.

The Olympic Games website contained the following accessibility issues:

  • There were no labels on images or imagemaps.

  • There was no access to the index of sport pages from the schedule page

  • The contents of the results table were inaccessible.

The Olympic Committee defence

SOCOG said that:

  • The issues with the alt attributes had been solved - and that labels had been added to all images.

  • The sports pages could be accessed via an alternative route, i.e., by typing in URLs to the pages.

  • The site was not subject to the act because it was 'promotional'.

  • The site was too big and to make the website accessible would entail 'unjustifiable hardship'.

  • It would require additional infrastructure, time and resources costing $2.2 million.

  • 1, 295 templates would need to be altered.

  • One person working 8 hours per day would take over a year to fix the problems.

SOCAG reasons were not accepted

All of the above reasons where conclusively repudiated by Australian Authorities and expert witnesses.

The Human Rights Committee did not agree that the site was only promotional and said that it was a service provided during the Sydney Olympic Games.

The Commission found that having to access pages by typing in a long URL did not constitute equal treatment,

"The proposed alternative is both unorthodox and cumbersome and need not be resorted to by a sighted person."

Expert witnesses dismissed the arguments related to the site being too big to change; i.e., they refuted the claim that the cost, complexity and time involved would mean unjustifiable hardship for SOCOG.

Expert witnesses concluded that,

  • Changes would take a developer with 4-10 helpers four weeks.

  • Only 394 templates would be required.

  • No new infrastructure would be required.

  • The cost of making the site accessible would be modest.

  • Accessibility tags are not different from other tags, therefore, would not take any longer to add.

Expert witness Tom Worthington, expressed the view that the corrections would take less time than the time which was consumed talking about it.

SOCOG lost the case and were ordered to make changes by adding alt attributes, providing access to the Sports pages and making the results tables accessible. They refused to comply and were fined $20,000 (Australian dollars).

The Commission found that Bruce Maguire had been discriminated against and that the attitude of SOCOG - who had not taken the complaint seriously - had caused 'considerable feelings of hurt, humiliation and rejection'.

The Maguire v the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games set a worldwide precedent relating to the requirement for websites to be accessible in countries with similar disability discrimination legislation.

Links



Top Producing Flash Site. - Download movies, games, software and music.
My Unlimited Movies. - Download unlimited movies, music, games, videos, software, Tv shows, cartoons and more. Get access to over 15 billion files

Responsive Design Sketchbook
I really like the look of this carefully thought out sketch pad: http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0064/4612/products/responsive-blueprint_grande.png?100729 I can imagine how this could benefit the design thinking process, helping designers to remember and consider that site design should be working at many widths. Want. Thanks for subscribing to Boagworld; a web design blog, forum and podcast run by Paul [...]


Article Index: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79

More Articles:


1. Extremely Cheap Web Design Service
Are you looking for somebody to build you a website, however do not have a very large budget? This is the position many people find themselves in and are on the lookout for very cheap web design services. There are companies out there or people who are just starting out in a career building websites who to start with will often offer their services at a very reasonable rate, basically to build up a portfolio. Once they are established they then tend to increase the amount they charge. I have eve…

2. Building An Effective Furniture Sales Web Site By Jim Ray
Web sites that feature products – especially furniture or other large items – require a careful balance of text and images to convey the value of each product.Let’s face it. Consumers like to see, feel, and “experience” a product before they make a purchase decision. If you can elicit the senses in your on-line presentation of an item, you will increase your chances of making a purchase tenfold.In addition to the basics of an effective web presence, such as complete contact information, a su…

3. So You’re Hiring a Web Designer—You Have the Right to Demand these 7 Perks By Mitone Griffith
Whether you’re hiring a designer who has created 10 sites or 1000 sites for other businesses, there are 10 things every website should do for you.1. Be wary of companies who charge by the hour and don’t put on a cap! There isn’t a regulated industry standard in fees. So websites can easily end up costing you a small fortune. Ask for a flat fee if possible—you’ll know exactly what you’re paying up front. It’s common to pay for 50% down, and in certain cases, when working with businesses online;…

4. Pitfalls of Web Redesign
Now that we are a half-decade into the web as mass media, it is apparent that redesigning is a necessary part of the business of web development. Most sites are redesigned multiple times -- getting better, and occasionally worse, each time out. Sometimes, a redesign comes about as the site owners are evolving from 'the kid down the street did my web site' to 'it's time to hire a professional.' More often it's a matter of keeping up with the Joneses. Creating, maintaining and owning a web site is…