On New Media Content Presentation Legal and Practical Implications of the Federal Disability Discrimination Act On New Media Content Presentation

DDA – Legal Considerations Legal obligations exist in respect of new media content presentation Human Rights and Equal Opp. Comm. (HREOC) issued an advisory note to provide guidance to public – note endorsed W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines – Priority 1,2 and 3 – must, should, would be nice W3C are practical standards that assist government and business in conveying information to people suffering disabilities Aim to be “AAA” but what is really required?

DDA – Legal Considerations Maguire v SOCOG – Inaccessible Olympic ticket site $20,000 fine Subjective Test: what is sensible at the time given the existing technology? Defence: “unjustifiable hardship” Unjustifiable hardship considerations: Who is the site designed to be used by? (who is your site demographic) What benefits/services does the site provide? How important is the information on the site? What is the cost of W3C compliance? What are the financial circumstances of website owner?

DDA – Legal Considerations The “test” is dynamic – what was acceptable 1 year ago may now no longer be acceptable Serious financial penalties looming – ie DDA supports class actions – clash actions can be costly and typically promote poor impression of company/govt department What type or organisations are most ask risk of legal action: Banks Transport companies Government agencies

Practical Consequences Websites – Priority 1 Compliance? Text equivalent for every non text element – pictures, buttons, sound, animations Use of multimedia – auditory description Documents to be read without style sheets Conveyance of information by color (must also be conveyed without color) How practical is this? Artistic considerations – morale rights Commercial considerations

Practical Consequences New Media Content Issues: How will W3C guidelines or equivalents impact on interactive TV? Impact on Games – Playstation 2, X-box DVD’s The key to avoid any nasty issues is to take the time to be “aware” of the standards that a “reasonable prudent person” should take into account when creating new content for the “general public”