– It’s sad, says visually impaired Sven Terje Garmo. On a daily basis, he discovers websites that are not designed for him and others with reduced functional ability. Being visually impaired, he has to enlarge the writing on the computer screen. In addition, he uses a program that reads the website aloud. But he often faces problems. Lacks good descriptions The websites may have poor contrast between text and background. Or lacking good descriptions of links, pictures and illustrations. For example, a button with the inscription “for employees” is read out as just “button” or “menu item”. Or that illustrations such as maps lack description. These are the biggest and most serious mistakes, according to Garmo. – If you are going to use only hearing to find out, then it is important what is written there, he says. Problem for the visually impaired and the blind According to the Association of the Blind, more than 320,000 people lived with a visual impairment in Norway in 2018. Now researchers at NTNU in Gjøvik have found that none of the municipalities meet the requirement for ICT accessibility, especially for people who are blind or partially sighted. All the municipalities have broken the law in different ways. For example, it is not guaranteed to get information on where the polling station is on 11 September. Or to be able to submit an application to set up an extension to their house. – They don’t get the information, quite simply, says associate professor Anne Britt Torkildsby. RESEARCHERS: Yavuz Inal and Anne Britt Torkildsby are both associate professors at the Department of Design, NTNU in Gjøvik. They have examined the municipalities’ websites and found that all municipalities are breaking the legislation on ICT accessibility. Photo: Alexander Nordby / news – Need to raise awareness But it is possible to do something about this. Namely to raise awareness so that those who work with the website follow the regulations. The regulations, which came ten years ago, require that all websites must be universally designed. – The inspectorate for universal design of ICT can check that everything has been followed, and issue daily fines, says Torkildsby. She also says that the researchers will check the municipalities’ websites next year, to see if there have been any improvements. Declaration of availability From 1 February this year, all municipalities had to have a declaration of availability which they had to follow. The declaration must apply to all websites and apps. For apps, the deadline is 1 February 2024. The Directorate of Digitalisation controls ICT availability in the municipalities and therefore does this with the Equality and Discrimination Act at its back. If municipalities do not have the declaration, the inspectorate can take action. This can be an order for rectification and daily fines. Source: Uutylsynet. Stricter regulations After the findings of the researchers at NTNU in Gjøvik were brought in, the regulations have been tightened. Asbjørn Finstad in the municipal sector’s interest organization (KS) says he cannot answer for all the municipalities and county municipalities when it comes to breaking the law. But today all businesses in the public sector must have a declaration of accessibility on their websites. – Then the municipalities can more easily see what kind of shortcomings the websites have, and start work on correcting the weaknesses, believes Finstad. – Use us! Sven Terje Garmo, who is visually impaired, thinks it is sad that we have not progressed further in the work with accessibility. NEEDS HELP TO READ: Garmo can’t see anything in his right eye and has 20 percent vision in his left eye. What a person with normal vision sees at a distance of 30 metres, he sees at a distance of one metre. Photo: Alexander Nordby / news He believes it is objectionable that such a large group is left out of public information. Garmo asks the municipalities to use the visually impaired as a resource in the work at hand. All it takes is for a municipality to invite a visually impaired person in, he says. – This way those who create the websites can see how it works. It’s not that complicated, and it’s free to use us.
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The municipalities’ websites are too poorly designed for visually impaired, blind and dyslexic people – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
