[CEUD-ICT] Legal status of government / education website accessibility in Ireland

[Eoin Campbell]

Can someone in Ireland with a disability sue a public body in court
if their website is not accessible to them?

If not, can they bring a case to a forum like the Equality Tribunal?

Is there any penalty defined if an organisation fails in its obligations
under the Act?


I ask because my recollections of the email discussions that took place
on this list in 2004/5 was that the Disability Act was considered to be
too weak in the area of electronic communications.

Is this still the general feeling?
The phrase "as far as practicable" seem to be a free pass to not bother
doing anything.



On  at , Donal J. Rice wrote:
> 
>> Thanks for that Laurence.
>> Eoin, you may also want to check out the policy and legislation from the
>> CEUD's new website [1].  It contains some extra information relating to
>> Universal Design and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with
>> Disabilities and the Council of Europe Actions Plan.  Possibly more info
>> than you require for your particular query though.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Dónal.
>>
>>              Please respond to
>>              laurence.veale at iq
>>                content.com;
>>
>> I know this bit off by heart, as I refer to it as much as the Tim Berners
>> Lee quote:
>>
>> >From the Disability Act, 2005:
>>
>> Where a public body communicates in electronic form with
>> one or more persons, the head of the body shall ensure, that as far
>> as practicable, the contents of the communication are accessible to
>> persons with a visual impairment to whom adaptive technology is
>> available.
>>
>> Where it comes into "force", is with regard to the code of practice
>> published by the NDA,
>>
>> "Compliance by a public body with an approved code of practice shall be
>> deemed to be compliance with the relevant provision of this Act."
-- 
Eoin Campbell
ecampbell.xmlw at gmail.com