By law, all UK company websites must conform to the Disability Discrimination Act (1995), covering this and other accessibility issues, but a recent report* found that two thirds of FTSE 100 firms fail to do so.
In addition, an investigation in April by the Disability Rights Commission into web access found that four out of five websites are virtually impossible for disabled people to use, and that visually impaired people struggled the most in performing simple online tasks, due to inaccessible websites. The See It Right campaign, sponsored by Standard Life, is part of an ongoing initiative that the RNIB is running to ensure web users can access sites regardless of their abilities. Huntswood’s web site has been made accessible with the aid of web development agency, Fortune Cookie.
Dan Yates, Corporate Strategy Manager at Huntswood, commented, “Attention is focused on the new requirements for premises to be accessible which come into force in October. However, many fail to realise that the law covering marketing materials is already in force – and anyone affected can sue for discrimination under the Act.
“Being the first financial services firm to gain this accreditation demonstrates that we lead the way in complying with the full spectrum of regulation, whether specific to financial services firms or more generally. We shall be launching a comprehensive service to audit companies’ marketing information, everything from websites to direct mail promotions, and to help them ensure they avoid the risk of penalties for non-compliance.”
The FSA continues to increase its monitoring of “financial promotions”, establishing a hotline in July 2004 for members of the public to report misleading marketing materials
