What occurs when you stumble at the initial obstacle?
Conducting an Accessibility Evaluation for a Sixth-Form College
Recently, I conducted a comprehensive website accessibility assessment for a college. Much like other educational institutions, they enroll a portion of disabled students each year. The impetus behind this audit was the UK Government's Digital Service requirement. However, given their ongoing and potential enrollment of disabled students, it was equally essential for them to gain insight into potential accessibility challenges.
The website featured a Cookie Banner
To comply with GDPR regulations, every website using analytics tracking code is mandated to incorporate a Cookie Banner.
Nevertheless, Cookie Banners typically pose accessibility challenges for disabled individuals.
They range from being an annoyance to rendering the entire website inaccessible.
If a Cookie Banner obstructs a disabled individual's access to a website, it constitutes a violation of the Equality Act.
It was impossible to close
This particular website had a link to close the Cookie Banner, as is customary. However, this link could not be activated by someone using a screen reader, whether on a computer or a mobile device.
Consequently, every time a user accessed any page on the website, they were subjected to the repeated announcement: "Our website uses cookies. By continuing, we assume your permission to deploy cookies, as detailed in our cookie policy."
Furthermore, attempting to navigate to different sections of the page triggered the repetition of this message. Can you fathom the frustration experienced by someone relying on a screen reader? How many other websites suffer from this issue?
This is why we do not allow Cookie Banners
I am steadfast in my decision never to incorporate Cookie Banners on my website or permit them on my clients' websites. In my view, the Equality Act holds far greater importance than GDPR compliance.
Ultimately, everyone faces a choice.
Which holds greater significance for you?
If you'd like to find out more