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UK Resources for Web Accessibility and the Law

This page is intended to provide a comprehensive list of resources for those interested in the legal aspects of Web Accessibility in the UK. As well as providing links to Government legislation (primary and secondary), there are also links to other official documents as well as articles and presentations.

This page also contains a bibliography of the work of Martin Sloan LLB and includes links to material available online as well as citations for articles published in print. Martin graduated from the University of Glasgow in July 2001, having researched the area of Web Accessibility and the law for his honours dissertation. His original paper was reproduced in whole by the Journal of Information, Law and Technology in July 2001 and since then Martin has written articles for several other leading legal journals.

In addition to this, Martin has also carried out research for the Digital Media Access Group at the University of Dundee (who supported the initial paper) and the JISC funded body TechDIS, who provide an advisory service for higher and further education institutions. Martin has also been invited to present seminars at the RNIB's Techshare conference and the University of Edinburgh.

Martin is a solicitor with Edinburgh commercial law firm Brodies.

Legislation

Disability Discrimination Act 1995 - the main backbone of UK disability discrimination legislation ('the DDA')
Disability Rights Commission Act 1999 - the Act which created the Disability Rights Commission
Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 - the Act which amended the 1995 Act to provide obligations for both pre and post-16 education ('the SENDA')

Secondary Legislation

Disability Discrimination (Services and Premises) Regulations 1996 (SI 1996/1836) - provides further guidance as to the definition of 'educational services' in relation to the exclusion of education from Part III of the Act
Disability Discrimination (Commencement Order No. 6) Order 1999 (SI 1999/1190) - this order brought Part III of the Act into force
Disability Discrimination (Services and Premises) Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/1191) - defines 'physical features' and 'auxiliary aids' under Part III of the Act
The Disability Discrimination Code of Practice (Goods, Facilities, Services and Premises) (Appointed Day) Order 2002 (SI 2002/720) - this order brought into force the new Code of Practice for Part III of the DDA
The Disability Discrimination Code of Practice (Goods, Facilities, Services and PRemises) Revocation Order 2002 (SI 2002/721) - this order revoked the previous Code of Practice for Part III of the DDA
The Disability Discrimination Codes of Practice (Education) (Appointed Day) Order 2002 (SI 2002/2216) - this order brought into force the SENDA Code of Practice
The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 (Commencement No. 5) Order 2002 (SI 2002/2217) - this order brought into force parts of the SENDA on 1 September 2002

Codes of Practice (Published by the DRC)

Code of Practice for Part II of the Act (Employment) - the Code of Practice accompanying Part II of the Act, which deals with disability discrimination in the course of employment
- Code of Practice: the Elimination of Discrimination in the Field of Employment Against Disabled Persons or Persons who have had a Disability (MS Word format)
Code of Practice for Part III of the Act (Rights of Access to Goods, Facilities, Services and Premises) - the Code of Practice accompanying Part III of the Act, which deals with disability discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities, services and premises
Codes of Practice for Part IV of the Act (Education) - these Codes accompany the new Part IV of the Act, which deals with disability discrimination in education

Other Official Publications

Office of the e-Envoy 'Web Guidelines' Guidelines for UK Government Web sites
JISC Senior Management Briefing Paper 15: Disability, Technology and Legislation Advisory paper for senior management in higher and further education institutions of forthcoming legal provisions (September 2001)
Sloan, Martin 'Content Service Providers and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995' JISC Legal Information Service, published 15 March 2004 - a paper examing potential liability for accessibility issues under the DDA in the provision of online digital content by service providers and educational institutions that is used for teaching/study purposes
Disability Rights Commission 'Formal Investigation Report: web accessibility', 14 April 2004 - the DRC's long-awaited accessibility study of 1,000 randomly selected websites

The eEurope Initiative

Web and People with Disabilities Web site - Information Society division of the European Commission's page on Web accessibility
European Commission Web Accessibility Initiative Web site - information on the European Commission's eEurope Initiative and the Commission's drive to make Member States' provide their public content in an accessible form
European Commission 'eEurope 2002: Accessibility of Public Web Sites and their Content' COM(2001) 0529, September 25 2001 - the European Commission Communication which sets out the requirements of the eEurope Initiative
European Parliament 'eEurope 2002: Accessibility of Public Web Sites and their Content' Parliament Resolution (2002) 0325 - Resolution by the European Parliament on the accessibility of public Web sites in the European Union

Other Relevant Web Sites

Disability Rights Commission (DRC) - the independent body charged with providing advice and information under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and supporting disabled people in the UK. It also has the responsibility to draft the various codes of practice under the Act and its Web site contains helpful guides on complying with the Act(s)
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Disability Web site - the main government portal for disability
Office of the e-Envoy - the Government department charged with 'getting the UK online'
TechDIS - a JISC-funded service supporting the higher and further education community
Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) - the World Wide Web consortium (W3C)'s Web Accessibility Initiative has produced a series of Guidelines designed at improving the accessibility of the Web for disabled people and encourages good practice by designers. These guidelines arguably form an important part for any legal argument requiring accessible Web sites

Articles (Part III – the Provision of Goods, Facilities and Services)

Sloan, Martin ‘Web Accessibility and the DDA’ 2001(2) The Journal of Information, Law and Technology, July 2 2001 - Martin Sloan's original paper, reproduced in full (14,000 words)
Sloan, Martin 'Digital Discrimination' HumanITy Web site, September 13 2001 - an abbreviated version of the paper published by JILT
Sloan, Martin 'Disability Laws and the Internet' Electronic Business Law 2002 3(12) 8 - an article discussing the legal implications for service providers' Web presences following the introduction of Part III of the DDA
Mason, Stephen and Casserley, Catherine 'Web Site Design and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995' Comps & Law 2001/02 12(5) 16-20 - an article similar to the above
Sloan, Martin 'Web Accessibility and the Disability Discrimination Act' Digital Media Access Group Web site, January 10 2002 - an article similar to that published in Electronic Business Law
Sloan Martin 'The Updated Code of Practice for Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act' Digital Media Access Group Web site, March 25 2002 - an article discussing the revisions contained in the revised Code of Practice for Part III of the DDA published in February 2002
Sloan, Martin 'Disability Laws and the Internet: an Update' Electronic Business Law 2002 4(4) 5 - an update to the article published in an earlier edition of Electronic Business Law, taking into account the revised Code of Practice
Sloan, David and Sloan, Martin 'Election 2003:Fully Inclusive?' Digital Media Access Group Web site, 24 April 2003 - a study of the accessibility problems encountered by disabled people when trying to access online manifestos of the main Scottish political parties. See also:

Sunday Herald 'Political parties 'discriminate' against the disabled' 27 April 2003
Press & Journal 'Parties' Websites difficult for disabled users' 28 April 2003
Usabilitynews.com 'Will the Scottish Elections 2003 be Fully Inclusive?' 30 April 2003

Sloan, Martin 'Web access and disability: an update' Electronic Business Law 2003 5(12) 7 - an article discussing legal developments in the UK, Europe and US in the last 18 months
Sloan, Martin 'Content Service Providers and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995' JISC Legal Information Service, published 15 March 2004 - a paper examing potential liability for accessibility issues under the DDA in the provision of online digital content by service providers and educational institutions that is used for teaching/study purposes

Articles (Part IV – Education)

Sloan, Martin ‘Web Accessibility and the DDA’ 2001(2) The Journal of Information, Law and Technology - Martin Sloan's original paper, reproduced in full (14,000 words) - Chapter 6 discusses Education
Sloan, Martin 'Institutional Web sites and Accessibility by the Disabled' TechDis Web site, March 13 2002 (also published in print: Communications Law 2002 7(2) 49) - an article discussing the legal implications for higher and further educational institutions' Web sites of the disability discrimination legislation
Sloan, Martin 'E-Learning and Accessibility by the Disabled' TechDIS Web site, March 14 2002 (also published in print: Communications Law 2002 7(3) 75) - an article discussing the legal implications of disability discrimination legislation for e-learning and online resources
Sloan, Martin 'Content Service Providers and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995' JISC Legal Information Service, published 15 March 2004 - a paper examing potential liability for accessibility issues under the DDA in the provision of online digital content by service providers and educational institutions that is used for teaching/study purposes

Presentations

Sloan, Martin 'Digital discrimination - Web Accessibility and the Disability Discrimination Act' Techshare 2001, Jury's Inn, Birmingham, November 27 2001 - a presentation based on Martin Sloan's original paper, 'Web Accessibility and the DDA'
Sloan, Martin 'Web Accessibility in education' The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, June 12 2002 - a presentation outlining the effect of the recent Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 on the provision of university Web sites and e-learning
Sloan, Martin and Sloan, David (Digital Media Access Group) 'Digital Discrimination: the Law and Accessible Interfaces' UTOPIA workshop, Napier University, Edinburgh 6 November 2002 - a joint presentation on the implications of the DDA on Web and Interface design
Sloan, Martin 'Web Accessibility, the Law and Education' Techshare 2002, Birmingham International Conference Centre, Birmingham, 21 November 2002 - a presentation on the impact of the SENDA on Web sites and e-learning in Higher and Further education
Sloan, Martin 'Web Accessibility & the Special Educational Needs Act 2001' University of Reading, Reading, 22 November 2002
Sloan, Martin 'Web Access & Disability - the new law' The New Legal Framework for e-Commerce Conference, University of Edinburgh, 24 January 2003 (Summary of Presentation)
Sloan, Martin 'Compliance and Accessibility and the Law: the legal view' Mediacorp/Click2Learn Seminar, Centre for Life, Newcastle, 16 December 2003 (Summary of Presentation) - a presentation at a one day seminar for business and public sector on Web accessibility and compliance issues
Sloan, Martin 'Disability discrimination legislation and the Web' Legal Aspects of Online Learning Environments Conference (JISC Legal), 31-2 June 2005

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© 2002-2005 Martin Sloan. All rights reserved. This page is created and maintained by Martin Sloan. This page and the resources contained within it should not be considered as legal advice and professional legal advice should always be sought in individual circumstances. The resources contained in this page link to external sites and the creator of this site is not responsible for the content contained within those pages.

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You are here: web-access.org.uk > home
UK Resources for Web Accessibility and the Law This page is intended to provide a comprehensive list of resources for those interested in the legal aspects of Web Accessibility in the UK. As well as providing links to Government legislation (primary and secondary), there are also links to other official documents as well as articles and presentations. This page also contains a bibliography of the work of Martin Sloan LLB and includes links to material available online as well as citations for articles published in print. Martin graduated from the University of Glasgow in July 2001, having researched the area of Web Accessibility and the law for his honours dissertation. His original paper was reproduced in whole by the Journal of Information, Law and Technology in July 2001 and since then Martin has written articles for several other leading legal journals. In addition to this, Martin has also carried out research for the Digital Media Access Group at the University of Dundee (who supported the initial paper) and the JISC funded body TechDIS, who provide an advisory service for higher and further education institutions. Martin has also been invited to present seminars at the RNIB's Techshare conference and the University of Edinburgh. Martin is a solicitor with Edinburgh commercial law firm Brodies.	web-access.org.uk resources index Legislation Secondary Legislation Codes of Practice Other Official Publications The eEurope Initiative Other Relevant Web Sites Articles Presentations
Legislation Disability Discrimination Act 1995 - the main backbone of UK disability discrimination legislation ('the DDA') Disability Rights Commission Act 1999 - the Act which created the Disability Rights Commission Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 - the Act which amended the 1995 Act to provide obligations for both pre and post-16 education ('the SENDA') Secondary Legislation Disability Discrimination (Services and Premises) Regulations 1996 (SI 1996/1836) - provides further guidance as to the definition of 'educational services' in relation to the exclusion of education from Part III of the Act Disability Discrimination (Commencement Order No. 6) Order 1999 (SI 1999/1190) - this order brought Part III of the Act into force Disability Discrimination (Services and Premises) Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/1191) - defines 'physical features' and 'auxiliary aids' under Part III of the Act The Disability Discrimination Code of Practice (Goods, Facilities, Services and Premises) (Appointed Day) Order 2002 (SI 2002/720) - this order brought into force the new Code of Practice for Part III of the DDA The Disability Discrimination Code of Practice (Goods, Facilities, Services and PRemises) Revocation Order 2002 (SI 2002/721) - this order revoked the previous Code of Practice for Part III of the DDA The Disability Discrimination Codes of Practice (Education) (Appointed Day) Order 2002 (SI 2002/2216) - this order brought into force the SENDA Code of Practice The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 (Commencement No. 5) Order 2002 (SI 2002/2217) - this order brought into force parts of the SENDA on 1 September 2002 Codes of Practice (Published by the DRC) Code of Practice for Part II of the Act (Employment) - the Code of Practice accompanying Part II of the Act, which deals with disability discrimination in the course of employment Code of Practice: the Elimination of Discrimination in the Field of Employment Against Disabled Persons or Persons who have had a Disability (MS Word format) Code of Practice for Part III of the Act (Rights of Access to Goods, Facilities, Services and Premises) - the Code of Practice accompanying Part III of the Act, which deals with disability discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities, services and premises Code of Practice on Rights of Access to Goods, Facilities, Services and Premises (Adobe Acrobat format) (Part 1) Code of Practice on Rights of Access to Goods, Facilities, Services and Premises (Adobe Acrobat format) (Part 2) Code of Practice on Rights of Access to Goods, Facilities, Services and Premises (MS Word format) Codes of Practice for Part IV of the Act (Education) - these Codes accompany the new Part IV of the Act, which deals with disability discrimination in education Code of Practice for Schools (Adobe Acrobat Format) (Part 1) Code of Practice for Schools (Adobe Acrobat Format) (Part 2) Code of Practice for Schools (MS Word Format) Post-16 Code of Practice (Adobe Acrobat Format) Post-16 Code of Practice (MS Word Format) Other Official Publications Office of the e-Envoy 'Web Guidelines' Guidelines for UK Government Web sites JISC Senior Management Briefing Paper 15: Disability, Technology and Legislation Advisory paper for senior management in higher and further education institutions of forthcoming legal provisions (September 2001) Sloan, Martin 'Content Service Providers and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995' JISC Legal Information Service, published 15 March 2004 - a paper examing potential liability for accessibility issues under the DDA in the provision of online digital content by service providers and educational institutions that is used for teaching/study purposes Disability Rights Commission 'Formal Investigation Report: web accessibility', 14 April 2004 - the DRC's long-awaited accessibility study of 1,000 randomly selected websites The eEurope Initiative Web and People with Disabilities Web site - Information Society division of the European Commission's page on Web accessibility European Commission Web Accessibility Initiative Web site - information on the European Commission's eEurope Initiative and the Commission's drive to make Member States' provide their public content in an accessible form European Commission 'eEurope 2002: Accessibility of Public Web Sites and their Content' COM(2001) 0529, September 25 2001 - the European Commission Communication which sets out the requirements of the eEurope Initiative European Parliament 'eEurope 2002: Accessibility of Public Web Sites and their Content' Parliament Resolution (2002) 0325 - Resolution by the European Parliament on the accessibility of public Web sites in the European Union Other Relevant Web Sites Disability Rights Commission (DRC) - the independent body charged with providing advice and information under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and supporting disabled people in the UK. It also has the responsibility to draft the various codes of practice under the Act and its Web site contains helpful guides on complying with the Act(s) Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Disability Web site - the main government portal for disability Office of the e-Envoy - the Government department charged with 'getting the UK online' TechDIS - a JISC-funded service supporting the higher and further education community Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) - the World Wide Web consortium (W3C)'s Web Accessibility Initiative has produced a series of Guidelines designed at improving the accessibility of the Web for disabled people and encourages good practice by designers. These guidelines arguably form an important part for any legal argument requiring accessible Web sites Articles (Part III – the Provision of Goods, Facilities and Services) Sloan, Martin ‘Web Accessibility and the DDA’ 2001(2) The Journal of Information, Law and Technology, July 2 2001 - Martin Sloan's original paper, reproduced in full (14,000 words) Sloan, Martin 'Digital Discrimination' HumanITy Web site, September 13 2001 - an abbreviated version of the paper published by JILT Sloan, Martin 'Disability Laws and the Internet' Electronic Business Law 2002 3(12) 8 - an article discussing the legal implications for service providers' Web presences following the introduction of Part III of the DDA Mason, Stephen and Casserley, Catherine 'Web Site Design and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995' Comps & Law 2001/02 12(5) 16-20 - an article similar to the above Sloan, Martin 'Web Accessibility and the Disability Discrimination Act' Digital Media Access Group Web site, January 10 2002 - an article similar to that published in Electronic Business Law Sloan Martin 'The Updated Code of Practice for Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act' Digital Media Access Group Web site, March 25 2002 - an article discussing the revisions contained in the revised Code of Practice for Part III of the DDA published in February 2002 Sloan, Martin 'Disability Laws and the Internet: an Update' Electronic Business Law 2002 4(4) 5 - an update to the article published in an earlier edition of Electronic Business Law, taking into account the revised Code of Practice Sloan, David and Sloan, Martin 'Election 2003:Fully Inclusive?' Digital Media Access Group Web site, 24 April 2003 - a study of the accessibility problems encountered by disabled people when trying to access online manifestos of the main Scottish political parties. See also: Sunday Herald 'Political parties 'discriminate' against the disabled' 27 April 2003 Press & Journal 'Parties' Websites difficult for disabled users' 28 April 2003 Usabilitynews.com 'Will the Scottish Elections 2003 be Fully Inclusive?' 30 April 2003 Sloan, Martin 'Web access and disability: an update' Electronic Business Law 2003 5(12) 7 - an article discussing legal developments in the UK, Europe and US in the last 18 months Sloan, Martin 'Content Service Providers and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995' JISC Legal Information Service, published 15 March 2004 - a paper examing potential liability for accessibility issues under the DDA in the provision of online digital content by service providers and educational institutions that is used for teaching/study purposes Articles (Part IV – Education) Sloan, Martin ‘Web Accessibility and the DDA’ 2001(2) The Journal of Information, Law and Technology - Martin Sloan's original paper, reproduced in full (14,000 words) - Chapter 6 discusses Education Sloan, Martin 'Institutional Web sites and Accessibility by the Disabled' TechDis Web site, March 13 2002 (also published in print: Communications Law 2002 7(2) 49) - an article discussing the legal implications for higher and further educational institutions' Web sites of the disability discrimination legislation Sloan, Martin 'E-Learning and Accessibility by the Disabled' TechDIS Web site, March 14 2002 (also published in print: Communications Law 2002 7(3) 75) - an article discussing the legal implications of disability discrimination legislation for e-learning and online resources Sloan, Martin 'Content Service Providers and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995' JISC Legal Information Service, published 15 March 2004 - a paper examing potential liability for accessibility issues under the DDA in the provision of online digital content by service providers and educational institutions that is used for teaching/study purposes Presentations Sloan, Martin 'Digital discrimination - Web Accessibility and the Disability Discrimination Act' Techshare 2001, Jury's Inn, Birmingham, November 27 2001 - a presentation based on Martin Sloan's original paper, 'Web Accessibility and the DDA' Sloan, Martin 'Web Accessibility in education' The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, June 12 2002 - a presentation outlining the effect of the recent Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 on the provision of university Web sites and e-learning Sloan, Martin and Sloan, David (Digital Media Access Group) 'Digital Discrimination: the Law and Accessible Interfaces' UTOPIA workshop, Napier University, Edinburgh 6 November 2002 - a joint presentation on the implications of the DDA on Web and Interface design Sloan, Martin 'Web Accessibility, the Law and Education' Techshare 2002, Birmingham International Conference Centre, Birmingham, 21 November 2002 - a presentation on the impact of the SENDA on Web sites and e-learning in Higher and Further education Sloan, Martin 'Web Accessibility & the Special Educational Needs Act 2001' University of Reading, Reading, 22 November 2002 Sloan, Martin 'Web Access & Disability - the new law' The New Legal Framework for e-Commerce Conference, University of Edinburgh, 24 January 2003 (Summary of Presentation) Sloan, Martin 'Compliance and Accessibility and the Law: the legal view' Mediacorp/Click2Learn Seminar, Centre for Life, Newcastle, 16 December 2003 (Summary of Presentation) - a presentation at a one day seminar for business and public sector on Web accessibility and compliance issues Sloan, Martin 'Disability discrimination legislation and the Web' Legal Aspects of Online Learning Environments Conference (JISC Legal), 31-2 June 2005 return to top of page - -
© 2002-2005 Martin Sloan. All rights reserved. This page is created and maintained by Martin Sloan. This page and the resources contained within it should not be considered as legal advice and professional legal advice should always be sought in individual circumstances. The resources contained in this page link to external sites and the creator of this site is not responsible for the content contained within those pages.
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