The British standard on creating and commissioning accessible websites celebrates its first birthday on 7 December – what has it achieved?

BS 8878 is one year old tomorrow. What has its first year of life achieved? Is there much to celebrate? I’m happy to say that I do believe it has made a difference, and there are indications that it has made baby steps, if not strides, in its first 12 months.

In the year BS 8878 has been in existence our experience here at AbilityNet has shown that it’s made a marked impression on website owners across all sectors. We are approached every single day by companies needing advice and support on achieving accessibility, and the vast majority are now coming to us with a clearer perspective on what is involved in inclusive design, and with an appreciation that accessibility isn’t just a ‘bolt-on’ component that all too often drops off when the wrong decisions have been made.

We’ve also heard fewer horror-stories of design briefs that have been short on detail when it comes to specifying accessibility, which often leads to a very long and often bloody battle to try and achieve it – a battle which isn’t always won.

It has also led us to introduce a managed solution where organisations can embed AbilityNet expertise to help achieve compliance and, once achieved, maintain it. We call it ‘iCOMPLY’. It’s very encouraging to see organisations taking accessibility so seriously, and BS 8878 has played an important role in this process.

We are also endeavouring to maintain the momentum by launching the new ‘Web Essentials’ course in partnership with BCS (the Chartered Institute for IT) and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). We encourage everyone who creates any digital content (from a website to a Word document) to take this quick online course. Register interest by mailing webessentials@hq.bcs.org.uk as it’s not quite gone live yet at time of publication of this post.

Robin Christopherson is Head of Digital Inclusion at AbilityNet, the UK’s leading technology and disability charity. AbilityNet are passionate about the empowering nature of technology – and Robin, himself blind, is an authoritative global voice on the awesome power of tech.