HOW accessible is your website? You should know because it probably won’t be long before a challenge is brought over a site that is not accessible to disabled people.

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 clearly covers website accessibility. This has been clarified further by a code of practice from the Disability Rights Commission last year and by the publication this summer of International Standard ISO/TS 16071.

Although there are no reported cases in the UK, there is a precedent in Australia: the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games was successfully sued because its website was not fully accessible to a blind person. It was said that, had the issue been considered from the start, it would have taken only 1 per cent longer to create a fully accessible site. In Britain, the Royal National Institute for the Blind has recently been preparing proceedings against organisations with non-compliant websites.

So how accessible are websites to disabled users? The RNIB runs a See it Right campaign, under which it checks websites for accessibility to blind and partially sighted users. Only 33 sites are listed as approved. Accessibility can be improved by ensuring that a website is compatible with the technology used by disabled people, such as speaking browsers.

The Disability Rights Commission’s code of practice clearly envisages that the Disability Discrimination Act applies to websites and gives an online travel booking service as an example of a service covered by the legislation. Under the Act, it is unlawful for a service provider to discriminate against a disabled person. There are two obligations:

These may be enforced by third parties (for example, claiming damages, including compensation for injury to feelings).

So what is "reasonable adjustment"? That depends on the type of service, the effect on the disabled person and the practicality and cost of making the changes. Businesses that offer online services should look closely at making them available to disabled people.

The author is a partner in the intellectual property and technology team at Burges Salmon

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