Accessibility Policy for DVA Websites

September 2004

POLICY STATEMENT

On this page:

Policy objectives | Policy statement | Exclusions

Policy objectives

The Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) website accessibility policy aims to:

Make online information accessible to our target audience as our first priority, and to all users including disabled or older users and those with technical constraints, and to DVA staff
Ensure a double-A plus conformance rating for the home page and high usage, high traffic sites while accepting a less strict rating for other pages according to content
Establish a balance between strict compliance and effective use of available resources
Provide information in the most practical format for the perceived audience
Offer alternatives where online information cannot be made accessible in a reasonable time in a cost-effective way.

Policy statement

DVA endorses the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0⁽¹⁾ in line with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO)⁽²⁾.

DVA will ensure, where possible, a AA+ (double-A plus) conformance rating for our website according to the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) priorities and conformance ratings ⁽³⁾. We will apply the WAI ratings to home pages, high traffic and high usage sites. Other pages will meet the AA+ standard where it is feasible and practical to do so. This approach allows the most effective use of resources to achieve a balance between strict compliance and accessibility of what we consider to be the higher priority pages.

Where it is not possible, for any reason, to provide an accessible HTML version of a document, we will provide a number of options such as PDF, MS Word or MS Excel, rich text format (RTF), or a plain text-only HTML version for those with a demonstrated need. See 'Accessing Online Information' in the 'Explanatory Notes' to this policy statement for how to contact DVA to request an accessible document.

This approach reflects that outlined in DVA's Disability Action Plan.

Exclusions

This policy does not specifically address accessibility of web pages viewed on internet facilities such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones and other non-standard viewing platforms. DVA will make every effort to ensure that its website content meets current accessibility standards for the more traditional means of accessing the internet. By achieving this, the DVA website should be accessible on any browser or viewing apparatus.

More information

See the Explanatory Notes to this policy statement for more information.

Note 1: WCAG 1.0 have been developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the organisation for international web standards. Back
Note 2: AGIMO, formerly National Office for the Information Economy (NOIE). Back
Note 3: See Appendix 2 of the Explanatory Notes to this policy statement [for more about conformance ratings]. Back