IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MUMBAI ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION NO OF 2012 AND AND AND

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1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MUMBAI ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION NO OF 2012 In the matter of Articles 14, 21 and 226 of the Constitution of India AND In the matter of Maharashtra State Action Plan for the Welfare of Persons with Disabilities, 2001 AND In the matter of The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 AND In the matter of Circular dated of the Government of Maharashtra, Department of Social Justice, Cultural Activities, Sports and Special Assistance, being Circular No.Misc-2001/195/3 AND In the matter of Circular dated of the Government of Maharashtra, Department of Social Justice, Cultural Activities, Sports and

2 Special Assistance, being Circular No.Misc-2007/146/3 AND In the matter of Circular dated of the Government of Maharashtra, Town Development Department, being Circular No. Misc AND In the matter of letter dated issued by the Deputy Secretary, Department of Social Justice, Cultural Activities, Sports and Special Assistance, to the Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary and Secretaries of all Administrative Departments. Disability Rights Initiative ) Initiative of India Centre for Human ) Rights and Law, ) having its office at ) 4 th Floor, Engineer ) House, 86, Bombay Samachar ) Marg, Fort, Mumbai ) PETITIONER

3 VERSUS 1) National Informatics Center, ) Department of Information ) Technology, Ministry of ) Communication and Information ) Technology, A block, CGO ) Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi ) ) 2) The Union of India, ) (a) through the ) Minister for Urban Development, ) Ministry of Urban Development ) Nirman Bhawan, 316, "C" Wing, ) New Delhi ) (b) through the Minister for Rural ) Development, Ministry of Rural ) Development, Krishi Bhawan, ) New Delhi ) (c) through the Minister of Health ) and Family Welfare, Ministry of ) Health and Family Welfare, ) Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi )

4 ) (d) through the Principal Secretary, ) Ministry of Women and Child ) Development, Shashtri Bhavan, ) Jeevandeep Building, ) Connaught Place, ) New Delhi ) (e) through the principal Secretary, ) Department of Education, ) Shastri Bhavan, Dr Rajendra ) Prasad Road, New Delhi ) 3) The State of Maharashtra, ) (a) through the Principal Secretary, ) Ministry of Women and Child ) Development Department, ) Mantralaya, Mumbai ) (b) through the Principal Secretary, ) Social Justice and Special ) Assistance Department, ) Mantralaya, Mumbai: ) (c) through the Principal Secretary, )

5 Employment and ) Self-Employment Department, ) Mantralaya, Mumbai ) (d) through the Principal Secretary, ) Public Health Department, ) Mantralaya, Mumbai ) (e) through the Principal Secretary, ) Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer ) Protection Department, ) Mantralaya, Mumbai ) (f) through the Principal Secretary, ) Housing Department, ) Mantralaya, Mumbai ) (g) through the Principal Secretary, ) Minorities Development ) Department, Mantralaya, Mumbai ) ) (h) through the Principal Secretary, ) Relief and Rehabilitation ) Department, Mantralaya, Mumbai ) )

6 (i) through the Principal Secretary, ) Maharashtra Housing and Area ) Development Authority, ) Mantralaya, Mumbai ) (j) through the Principal Secretary, ) School Education and Sports ) Department, Mantralaya, Mumbai ) ) (k) through the Principal Secretary, ) Panchayat Raj Department, ) Mantralaya, Mumbai ) (l) through the Chairman, ) Maharashtra Pollution Control ) Board, Mantralaya, Mumbai ) ) 4) University of Mumbai, ) through its Vice Chancellor, ) Fort, Mumbai ) 5) Life Insurance Corporation of India, ) through the Chairman, ) Yogakshema, Jeevan Bima Marg, ) Mumbai )

7 6) State Bank of India, ) Through the Chairman, ) Fort, Mumbai ) 7) Bank of India, ) through the Chairman, ) Star House, C 5, 'G' Block, ) Bandra Kurla Complex, ) Bandra (E), Mumbai ) 8) Bank of Maharashtra, ) through the Chairman, ) Lokmangal, 1501, Shivajinagar ) Pune ) 9) Insurance Regulatory and ) Development Authority, ) through the Chairman, ) 3rd Floor, Parisrama Bhavan, ) Basheer Bagh, ) Hyderabad ) 10) Indian Railways, ) through the Chairman, ) Ministry of Railways, ) Rail Bhawan, Rafi Marg, )

8 New Delhi ) 11) Air India Ltd., ) through the Chairman, ) Air India Building, Nariman Point, ) Mumbai ) 12) Maharashtra State Road Transport ) Corporation, through the ) Chairman, Dr Ambedkar Road, ) Dadar, Mumbai ) 13) The Municipal Commissioner, ) (a) Municipal Corporation of Greater ) Bombay, Mahapalika Marg, ) Mumbai ) (b) Navi Mumbai Municipal ) Corporation, Belapur Bhavan, ) Sector 11, Navi Mumbai ) (c) Thane Municipal Corporation, ) Chandan Wadi, Near Nitin ) Company, Paanch Pakhadi, ) Almeida Road, Thane (W), ) Thane )

9 (d) Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal ) Corporation, Shankarrao Chowk, ) Kalyan West ) (e) Pune Municipal Corporation, ) Shivaji Nagar, Pune ) 14) The District Collectorate, ) (a) Mumbai City District, ) Collector s Office, ) Old Custom House, ) Fort, Mumbai ) (b) Raigad District, ) Collector s Office, ) Alibag ) (c) Aurangabad District, ) Collector Office, ) Aurangabad ) (d) Amravati District, ) Collector s Office, ) Amravati )

10 (e) Chandrapur District, ) Collector s Office, ) Chandrapur ) (f) Kolhapur District, ) Collector s Office, ) Kolhapur ) (g) Satara District, ) Collector s Office, ) Powai Naka, Satara ) (h) Solapur District, ) Collector s Office, ) Collectorate Compound, Main ) Building, Siddheshwar Peth, ) Solapur ) (i) Ratnagiri District, ) Collector s Office, ) Ratnagiri ) 15) The Registrar, ) (a) Supreme Court of India, ) Tilak Marg, New Delhi ) (b) Bombay High Court, )

11 Fort, Mumbai ) (c) The District Courts of ) Maharashtra, District & Session ) Courts ) 16) National Human Rights ) Commission, through the ) Chairman, Faridkot House, ) Copernicus Marg, ) New Delhi ) 17) Mumbai Metropolitan Region ) Development Authority, through ) the Chairman, E Block, MMRDA ) Building, Bandra Kurla Complex, ) Bandra (East), Mumbai ) 18) Mahanagar Telephone Nigam ) Limited, through the Chairman, ) Kidwai Bhawan, Janpath, ) Delhi ) 19) Integrated Research and Action for ) Development, through the ) Chairman, 3rd Floor, Parisrama) Bhavan, Basheer Bagh, )

12 Hyderabad ) 20) The Public Works Department, ) through the Director General, ) Nirman Bhawan, ) New Delhi ) 21) City and Industrial Development ) Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd., ) through the Chairman, CIDCO ) Bhavan, CBD Belapur, ) Navi Mumbai ) RESPONDENTS TO THE HONOURABLE CHIEF JUSTICE AND THE HONOURABLE PUISINE JUDGES OF THE HONOURABLE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY THE HUMBLE PETITION OF THE PETITIONERS ABOVENAMED MOST RESPECTFULLY SHEWETH: 1. The Petitioner herein is an initiative of India Center for Human Rights and Law which has been working for the betterment of the provisions to the persons with disabilities in terms of accessibility and policy changes for the disabled.

13 2. The Respondent No. 1 is the National Informatics Center, Union Government's main science and information technology organisation, developing government websites at national, state and district levels. Almost all Indian government websites come under the NIC. The Respondent No. 2 is the Union of India, while the Respondents Nos. 2(a)-(e) represent the various departments of the Union of India. The Respondent No. 3 is the State of Maharashtra, while the Respondents Nos. 3 (a)-(l) are the various departments of the State of Maharashtra. The Respondent No. 4 is the University of Mumbai in the State of Maharashtra, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the country. The Respondent No. 5 is the Life Insurance Corporation of India, the government company with a monopoly on soliciting and selling life insurance in India. The Respondents Nos. 6(a)-(c) are the various banks owned by either the Union Government or the State Government, providing a range of banking products through their vast network of branches. The Respondent No. 7 is the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, the national agency of the Government of India established to protect the interests of policyholders and to regulate, promote and ensure the orderly growth of the insurance industry. The Respondent No. 8 is the Indian Railways, the central government-owned company operating most of the country s rail transport. The Respondent No. 9 is Air India Ltd, owned by the government of India, which operates various airlines and air transport facilities. The

14 Respondent No. 10 is Maharashtra State Road Transport, a state-run bus service company and one of the largest fleet owners in India. The Respondents Nos. 11(a)-(e) are the Municipal Commissioners of various municipal corporations in Maharashtra responsible for the maintenance of district websites. The Respondents Nos. 12(a)-(i) are the District Collectorates of various districts in the State of Maharashtra, which are responsible for the maintenance of district websites. The Respondents Nos. 13(a)-(c) are the various courts of India 13(a) is the Supreme Court of India; 13(b) is the High Court of Bombay, which has jurisdiction over the States of Maharashtra and Goa, and the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli; and 13(c) is the District Court of Maharashtra. The Respondent No. 14 is the National Human Rights Commission, an autonomous statutory body the primary goal of which is the protection of human rights. The Respondent No. 15 is the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, which is responsible for the planning and coordination of development activities in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The Respondent No. 16 is Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd., the state-owned telecommunications service provider in Mumbai and New Delhi. The Respondent No. 17 is Integrated Research and Action for Development, a research institute based in New Delhi that focuses on energy, climate change and the environment, with the goal of developing effective policies in these areas. The Respondent No. 18 is the Public Works Department, the central government-

15 owned authority in charge of public sector works across the country. The Respondent No. 19 is the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd., a city-planning organisation created by the Government of Maharashtra to develop a satellite town for Mumbai. 3. The Petitioner seeks to invoke the extraordinary writ jurisdiction of this Hon ble Court, under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, to ensure the universal accessibility of government websites, particularly their accessibility to the marginalised population of persons with disabilities across the country, in the face of the Central and State Governments failures to adequately implement the Guidelines for Indian Government Websites, adopted by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pension, Government of India, to discharge their duties under the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 to make schemes to provide aids and appliances to persons with disabilities and to uphold their obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to ensure persons with disabilities access to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems, including the internet, on an equal basis with others.

16 THE ISSUE HEREIN: INADEQUATE WEBSITE ACCESSIBILITY FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES 4. Persons with disabilities are entitled to access, on an equal basis with others, to information and communications made available to the general public, including through the internet, in order to participate fully in all aspects of life and to fully enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms. India ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on October 1, 2007, which recognizes a range of rights and freedoms that must be accorded to persons with disabilities by States Parties. In Suchita Srivastava and Anr. V/s. Chandigarh Administration Civil Appeal No of 2009 dated , the Hon ble Supreme Court noted India s ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and stated that the contents of the Convention are binding on the Indian legal system. Article 4 of the Convention requires that States Parties undertake to ensure and promote the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all persons with disabilities without discrimination of any kind on the basis of disability. To this end, States Parties undertake: (a) To adopt all appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures for the implementation of the rights recognized in the present Convention. Significantly, article 9(1) provides: To enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life, States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure to persons with

17 disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas (emphasis added). These measures, which shall include the identification and elimination of obstacles and barriers to accessibility, shall apply to, inter alia:... (b) Information, communications and other services, including electronic services and emergency services. 5. According to article 9(2), States Parties shall also take appropriate measures:... (g) To promote access for persons with disabilities to new information and communications technologies and systems, including the Internet (emphasis added). Moreover, article 21 provides that States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities can exercise the right to freedom of expression and opinion, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas on an equal basis with others and through all forms of communication of their choice, as defined in article 2 of the present Convention, including by: (a) Providing information intended for the general public to persons with disabilities in accessible formats and technologies appropriate to different kinds of disabilities in a timely manner and without additional cost (emphasis added).

18 6. Additionally, the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 was enacted to provide protections to persons with disabilities and to improve their well-being. In particular, section 42 of the Act provides that the appropriate Governments shall by notification make schemes to provide aids and appliances to persons with disabilities. 7. Moreover, article 19 of the Constitution of India guarantees individuals the right to freedom of movement. Government websites have become the primary platform for information dissemination, communication and interface between the government and the public. In the past, individuals seeking information from a particular government department would need to physically travel to the concerned office to receive or impart the desired information. Because government websites now contain the information in a virtual format that would otherwise have been sought through exercising one s freedom of movement to visit the government office to obtain the information, any obstacles to access to information available on government websites infringe persons with disabilities right to freedom of movement protected by article 19 of the Constitution. Persons with disabilities freedom of movement is unduly restricted by barriers to accessibility to information contained on government websites, in the same way that their freedom of movement would be unduly restricted if they were prevented from traveling to government offices to obtain and impart information. Thus, barriers to accessibility to information

19 on government websites for persons with disabilities constitute a violation of their freedom of movement. 8. The Government of India has formulated and adopted Guidelines for Indian Government Websites, January 2009 that include mandatory requirements with which all government websites must comply to fulfill their objectives of being a citizen centric source of information and service delivery, with information made accessible to all citizens. The National Informatics Centre referred to and relied on established and recognized guidelines of other countries and international bodies like the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in developing its Guidelines. There are a variety of important design features that render websites accessible to persons with disabilities. Many of these features are required by the Guidelines for Indian Government Websites. Hereto annexed and marked as Exhibit A is the Guidelines for Indian Government Websites, adopted by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pension, Government of India, January The W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 is a set of guidelines that define how to make web content more accessible to persons with disabilities and is widely regarded as the international standard for web accessibility. WCAG 2.0

20 recognizes that accessibility involves a wide range of disabilities, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, language, learning and neurological disabilities. These guidelines also make web content more usable by older individuals with changing abilities due to aging and often improve usability for users in general. There are three levels of conformance to WCAG 2.0 that websites can exhibit A (lowest), AA, and AAA (highest). Following the mandatory guidelines of the Guidelines for Indian Government Websites will ensure compliance to WCAG 2.0 Level A, which is the minimum level of conformity to accessibility standards prescribed by the W3C. Hereto annexed and marked as EXHIBIT B is the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 dated Notwithstanding the duty placed on Governments to make schemes to provide aids and appliances to persons with disabilities under the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, the obligations undertaken under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the requirements prescribed by the Guidelines for Indian Government Websites, the vast majority of government websites maintained by the Central and State Governments do not conform to the Guidelines nor the W3C s WCAG 2.0 in numerous respects. As such, due to deficiencies in the accessibility of these websites, the Central and State Governments, and their various instrumentalities, have failed to ensure persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with

21 others, to information on government websites and have deprived persons with disabilities of their freedom of expression and opinion, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas on an equal basis with others and through all forms of communication of their choice, in violation of the Government of India s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 11. With negligible costs to the Respondents, they can uphold their legal obligations to ensure to persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to information and communications on government websites by ensuring conformance of all government websites to the Guidelines for Indian Government Websites and thereby secure the rights and freedoms of persons with disabilities to which they are entitled and which enable them to participate fully in all aspects of life and to fully enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms, in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 and the Guidelines for Indian Government Websites. To uphold their numerous obligations to persons with disabilities, the Central and State Governments, and their associated instrumentalities, should ensure their websites comply with WCAG 2.0 Level AAA the highest level of conformance to the widely regarded international standard for web accessibility.

22 FACTS OF THE CASE: 12. As technology advances, with computers and internet connections becoming increasingly less expensive and simultaneously more widely available, the internet and websites have emerged as a critical medium for communication and dissemination of information by the Central and State Governments, and their manifold instrumentalities, to the citizens of India. The internet, in conjunction with appropriate web design, can revolutionise and vastly improve governments capacity to communicate and provide information to persons with disabilities. A range of assistive technologies exist that enable persons with disabilities to access important governmental and civic information and enable avenues for civic engagement, on an equal basis with others. For instance, sight-impaired individuals can read utilizing electronic screen readers that read text out loud, while those with hearing impairments can access videos or audio with closed captions and view their transcripts and those with motor disabilities can access web content through other personally tailored assistive technologies. However, oversights in design and web content development, like mouse-only based web navigation, uncaptioned audio and video content, as well as unlabelled graphics, needlessly hamper the access of persons with disabilities to information despite these design deficiencies

23 being easily correctible from an economic and technical standpoint. 13. In fact, most of the design features that make web content accessible to persons with disabilities benefit all users additional illustrations and captions, straightforward navigation systems and coherent organisation enhance information accessibility for everyone. Thus, the case for improving the accessibility of government websites is clear and will benefit a range of stakeholders. 14. Recognizing this reality, the National Informatics Centre (NIC), Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Government of India, formulated Guidelines for Indian Government Websites to standardize government websites to ensure they are user friendly, secure and easy to maintain and to facilitate access to government information and services to the citizens of India, with special regard to persons with disabilities. 15. According to section 1.3 of the Guidelines, the term universal accessibility refers to making a website accessible to all irrespective of technology platforms, devices or disabilities of any kind. In other words, Departments should consider the needs of a broad spectrum of visitors, including general public, specialized audiences, people with disabilities, those without access to advanced technologies, and those with limited English

24 proficiency. Numerous countries have taken steps to implement legislation, guidelines and policies to promote and ensure accessibility to government website content by persons with disabilities. 16. The Guidelines prescribe an array of requirements to which government websites must adhere inter alia to ensure universal accessibility to persons with disabilities. Guideline requires departments to ensure that information; structure and relationships conveyed through the presentation of the content can be programmatically determined or are available in the text, as this ensures the preservation of information and the relationships among various items of information even when presentation format changes, often due to the use of assistive technologies. This criterion reflects the requirements prescribed by Guideline 1.3 of W3C s WGAC 2.0. Programmatically determined means that the content is delivered in such a way so as to enable user agents, including assistive technologies, to extract and present this informational content to users in different modalities appropriate to users respective needs. 17. In addition, Guideline provides that, when the sequence in which content is presented affects its meaning, a correct reading sequence must be programmatically determined. The Guideline goes on to state that this helps people who rely on assistive technologies like screen readers because the meaning evident in the sequencing of the information in the visual presentation will

25 be the same when the content is presented in spoken form or other formats. The Guideline also noted that this approach preserves the meaning of the web page when the Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) is turned off or not supported, where the CSS is a computer language that expresses a schema for the presentation (i.e., the appearance and formatting) of the content of a website. In this way, different style sheets can be applied to the logical structure of the webpage to produce different presentations of the web content. Thus, this can improve accessibility and control in the specification of presentational characteristics to allow the same webpage to be presented in different styles and different rendering modalities, such as onscreen, in print, by voice (when read out by a speech-based browser or screen reader), on Braille-based, tactile devices and other assistive technologies. Relatedly, Guideline mandates Indian Government websites to use CSS as much as possible to control layouts/styles. In addition, Guideline requires government websites to have the same logical order without the style sheets as they have with the style sheets, in order to enable them to remain functional even if the style sheet settings are ignored. 18. Recognizing the linguistic and cultural diversity of India, Guideline provides that ideally all the pages on the website should be translated in Hindi and other Regional languages. In case it is becoming difficult to do so, Departments

26 should identify the content which is widely accessed by the public and begin to put up such content in multiple languages. 19. Guideline provides that a meaningful explanatory text description must be specified for images, graphics and other non-text elements to ensure accessibility to images content. The alternative text for an image is displayed before the image is fully downloaded and also when the cursor is over the image. It is the main source of image information for users of text-only browsers, users of browsers with graphics turned off and users who are sight impaired. Similarly, to ensure that content of video and audio clips is accessible to all, including those with impaired vision or those accessing the information on slow connections, Guideline requires government websites to provide equivalent information for audio/video clips, such as a text description of the content. Additionally, all important audio clips must be accompanied with captions for the benefit of hearing impaired or those who do not have access to audio. Moreover, captions must not only include dialogue, but also must identify who is speaking and include non-speech information conveyed through sound, including meaningful sound effects. 20. According to Guideline 6.7.3, if any audio on a webpage plays automatically for more than 3 seconds, there must be a mechanism to pause or stop the audio, as well as an independent means to control the audio volume of the web page separate

27 from the overall system volume. The Guideline notes the importance of this design feature because individuals who use screen reading software can find it difficult to hear the speech output if there is other audio playing simultaneously. 21. Guideline requires websites to provide a mechanism to bypass blocks of content that are repeated on multiple web pages within the site, as a sighted user can ignore repeated material by focusing on the main content area but it is not possible for a person using a screen reader to be selective in the same manner. 22. Guideline 7.1 for Indian Government Websites on Mark-up Languages recognizes the importance of the proper use of a mark-up language, which is system for annotating documents (in this case, website content) that prescribes how the content is presented. HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the primary document format for the World Wide Web. The purpose of this Guideline is to support compatibility with current and future user agents, especially assistive technologies. This is done both by ensuring that websites do not have poorly formed markup, which can prevent assistive technologies from functioning correctly, and by expressing information in the content in standard ways that assistive technologies can recognize and with which they can properly interact.

28 23. Guideline requires that all information conveyed with colour is also available without colour, for example from context or markup. This is important inter alia because persons with visual impairments may be unable to access information, the context of which is only distinguishable through the use of different colors in presentation. 24. The W3C (WCAG) 2.0 is a set of guidelines, after which the Guidelines for Indian Government Websites were modeled, that is widely regarded as the international standard for web accessibility, with Level A, AA, and AAA representing ascending standards of accessibility for websites. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level A) prescribes that websites provide text alternatives for any non-text content so that it can be changed into other forms people need, such as large print, braille, speech, symbols or simpler language. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level A) provides that for prerecorded audio-only and prerecorded video-only media an alternative for these time-based media is provided that presents equivalent information. The intent behind the two aforementioned Guidelines is to make information conveyed by prerecorded audio-only and prerecorded video-only content available to all users. Alternatives for time-based media that are text-based make information accessible because text can be rendered through any sensory modality for instance, visual, auditory or tactile to match the needs of the user. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level A) requires captions to be provided

29 for all prerecorded audio content in synchronized media. This is important to enable people who are deaf or hard of hearing to watch synchronized media presentations. Captions provide the part of the content available via the audio track, and captions not only include dialogue, but identify who is speaking and include non-speech information conveyed through sound. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level A) requires websites to provide an alternative for time-based media or audio description of the prerecorded video content, which provides people who are blind or visually impaired access to the visual information in a synchronized media presentation. 25. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level AA) prescribes that captions are provided for all live audio content in synchronized media, which will enable people who are deaf or hard of hearing to watch real-time presentations. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level AA) requires that an audio description is provided for all prerecorded video content in synchronized media. Compliance with this Guideline provides people who are blind or visually impaired with access to the visual information in a synchronized media presentation, where the audio description augments the audio portion of the presentation with the information needed when the video portion is not available. During existing pauses in dialogue, audio description provides information about actions, characters, scene changes, and on-screen text that is important and is not described or spoken in the main soundtrack.

30 Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level AAA) prescribes that sign language interpretation is provided for all prerecorded audio content in synchronized media. The intent underlying this Guideline is to enable people who are deaf or hard of hearing and who are fluent in a sign language to understand the content of the audio track of synchronized media presentations. Written text, such as that found in captions, is often a second language. Because sign language provides the ability to provide intonation, emotion and other audio information that is reflected in sign language interpretation, but not in captions, sign language interpretation provides richer and more equivalent access to synchronized media. People who communicate extensively in sign language are also faster in sign language and synchronized media is a time-based presentation. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level AAA) requires that where pauses in foreground audio are insufficient to allow audio descriptions to convey the sense of the video, extended audio description is provided for all prerecorded video content in synchronized media. This Guideline is designed to provide people who are blind or visually impaired access to a synchronized media presentation beyond that which can be provided by standard audio description. This is done by periodically freezing the synchronized media presentation and playing additional audio description. The synchronized media presentation is then resumed. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level AAA) provides that an alternative for time-based media must be provided for all prerecorded synchronized media

31 and for all prerecorded video-only media. Compliance with this Guideline is intended to make audio-visual material available to individuals whose vision is too poor to reliably read captions and whose hearing is too poor to reliably hear dialogue and audio description. This is done by providing an alternative for time-based media, through an approach that involves providing all of the information in the synchronized media (both visual and auditory) in text form. An alternative for time-based media provides a running description of all that is going on in the synchronized media content, such that the alternative for timebased media reads something like a book. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level AAA) mandates that an alternative for time-based media that presents equivalent information for live audio-only content must be provided by a website. The intention behind this Guideline is to make information conveyed by live audio, such as video conferencing, live speeches and radio webcasts, accessible through the use of a text alternative. A live text caption service will enable live audio to be accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing, or who cannot otherwise hear the audio. Such services use a trained human operator who listens in to what is being said and uses a special keyboard to enter the text with only a small delay. 26. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level A) requires that information, structure, and relationships conveyed through presentation can be programmatically determined or are available in text. The intent behind this Guideline is to ensure

32 that information and relationships that are implied by visual or auditory formatting are preserved when the presentation format changes. For example, the presentation format changes when the content is read by a screen reader or when a user style sheet is substituted for the style sheet provided by the author. Sighted users perceive structure through various visual cues, but a visually impaired user would be unable to avail herself of such visual contextual cues and thus her access to this content and its meaning would be impaired. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level A) requires that when the sequence in which content is presented affects its meaning, a correct reading sequence can be programmatically determined. This Guideline is designed to enable a user agent to provide an alternative presentation of content while preserving the reading order needed to understand the meaning. It is important that it be possible to programmatically determine at least one sequence of the content that makes sense. Content that does not satisfy this Guideline may confuse or disorient users when assistive technology reads the content in the wrong order, or when alternate style sheets or other formatting changes are applied. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level A) prescribes that instructions provided for understanding and operating content do not rely solely on sensory characteristics of components such as shape, size, visual location, orientation, or sound. This Guideline is intended to ensure that all users can access instructions for using the content, even when they cannot perceive shape or size or use information about spatial location or orientation. Some content

33 relies on knowledge of the shape or position of objects that are not available from the structure of the content for example, round button or button to the right. Some users with disabilities are not able to perceive shape or position due to the nature of the assistive technologies they use. 27. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level A) prescribes that color is not used as the only visual means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element. The intent behind this Guideline is to ensure that all users can access information that is conveyed by color differences, that is, by the use of color where each color has a meaning assigned to it. If the information is conveyed through color differences in an image (or other nontext format), the color may not be seen by users with color deficiencies. In this case, providing the information conveyed with color through another visual means ensures users who cannot see color can still perceive the information. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level A) provides that if any audio on a webpage plays automatically for more than 3 seconds, either a mechanism is available to pause or stop the audio, or a mechanism is available to control audio volume independently from the overall system volume level. This Guideline is important because individuals who use screen reading software can find it hard to hear the speech output if there is other audio playing at the same time.

34 28. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level AA) provides that the visual presentation of text and images of text has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1, except for the following: Large-scale text and images of large-scale text can have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1; incidental text or images of text that are part of an inactive user interface component, that are pure decoration, that are not visible to anyone, or that are part of a picture that contains significant other visual content, have no contrast requirement; text that is part of a logo or brand name has no minimum contrast requirement. The intent of this Guideline is to provide enough contrast between text and its background so that it can be read by people with moderately low vision (who do not use contrast-enhancing assistive technology). Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level AA) prescribes that, except for captions and images of text, text can be resized without assistive technology up to 200 percent without loss of content or functionality. This Guideline is designed to ensure that visually rendered text can be scaled successfully so that it can be read directly by people with mild visual disabilities, without requiring the use of assistive technology, such as a screen magnifier. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level AA) prescribes that if the technologies being used can achieve the visual presentation, text is used to convey information rather than images of text, except for when the image of text can be visually customized to the user's requirements or when a particular presentation of text is essential to the information being conveyed. The intent of this Guideline is to encourage

35 authors, who are using technologies which are capable of achieving their desired default visual presentation, to enable people who require a particular visual presentation of text to be able to adjust the text presentation as needed. This includes people who require the text in a particular font size, foreground and background color, font family, line spacing or alignment. 29. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level AAA) requires that the visual presentation of text and images of text has a contrast ratio of at least 7:1, except for the following: Large-scale text and images of large-scale text can have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1; incidental text or images of text that are part of an inactive user interface component, that are pure decoration, that are not visible to anyone, or that are part of a picture that contains significant other visual content, have no contrast requirement; text that is part of a logo or brand name has no minimum contrast requirement. The intent of this Guideline is to provide enough contrast between text and its background so that it can be read by people with moderately low vision (who do not use contrast-enhancing assistive technology). Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level AAA) prescribes that for prerecorded audio-only content that (1) contains primarily speech in the foreground, (2) is not an audio CAPTCHA (that is, an acronym for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart ) or audio logo, and (3) is not vocalization intended to be primarily musical expression such as singing or rapping, at least one of the following is true: The

36 audio does not contain background sounds; the background sounds can be turned off; the background sounds are at least 20 decibels lower than the foreground speech content, with the exception of occasional sounds that last for only one or two seconds. The purpose of this Guideline is to ensure that any non-speech sounds are low enough that a user who is hard of hearing can separate the speech from background sounds or other noise foreground speech content. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level AAA) provides that for the visual presentation of blocks of text, a mechanism is available to achieve the following: Foreground and background colors can be selected by the user; width is no more than 80 characters; text is not justified (aligned to both the left and the right margins); line spacing is at least space-and-a-half within paragraphs, and paragraph spacing is at least 1.5 times larger than the line spacing; and text can be resized without assistive technology up to 200 percent in a way that does not require the user to scroll horizontally to read a line of text on a full-screen window. This Guideline is designed to ensure that visually rendered text is presented in such a manner that it can be perceived without its layout interfering with its readability. People with some cognitive, language and learning disabilities and some low vision users cannot perceive the text and/or lose their reading place if the text is presented in a manner that is difficult for them to read. Images of text are only used for pure decoration or where a particular presentation of text is essential to the information being conveyed. Guideline of W3C s

37 WCAG 2.0 (Level AAA) mandates that images of text are only used for pure decoration or where a particular presentation of text is essential to the information being conveyed. This is intended to enable people who require a particular visual presentation of text to be able to adjust the text presentation as required. This includes people who require the text in a particular font size, foreground and background color, font family, line spacing or alignment. 30. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level A) provides that all functionality of the content is operable through a keyboard interface without requiring specific timings for individual keystrokes. This Guideline is intended to ensure that, wherever possible, content can be operated through a keyboard or keyboard interface (so an alternate keyboard can be used). When content can be operated through a keyboard or alternate keyboard, it is operable by people with no vision, who cannot use devices such as mice that require eye-hand coordination, as well as by people who must use alternate keyboards or input devices that act as keyboard emulators. Keyboard emulators include speech input software, sip-and-puff software, on-screen keyboards, scanning software and a variety of assistive technologies and alternate keyboards. No other input form has this flexibility or is universally supported and operable by people with different disabilities, as long as the keyboard input is not time-dependent. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level A) prescribes that if keyboard focus can be moved to a

38 component of the page using a keyboard interface, then focus can be moved away from that component using only a keyboard interface, and, if it requires more than unmodified arrow or tab keys or other standard exit methods, the user is advised of the method for moving focus away. This Guideline is designed to ensure that content does not trap keyboard focus within subsections of content on a webpage. This is a common problem when multiple formats are combined within a page and rendered using plug-ins or embedded applications. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level AAA) requires that all functionality of the content is operable through a keyboard interface without requiring specific timings for individual keystrokes. The intent behind this Guideline is to ensure that all content is operable from the keyboard. This Guideline is the same as Guideline 2.1.1, except that no exceptions are allowed, which makes compliance consistent with the higher Level AAA standard. 31. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level A) provides that for each time limit that is set by the content, at least one of the following is true: The user is allowed to turn off the time limit before encountering it; the user is allowed to adjust the time limit before encountering it over a wide range that is at least ten times the length of the default setting; the user is warned before time expires and given at least 20 seconds to extend the time limit with a simple action (for example, press the space bar ), and the user is allowed to extend the time limit at least ten times; the time limit is a required part of a real-time event (for

39 example, an auction), and no alternative to the time limit is possible; the time limit is essential and extending it would invalidate the activity; or the time limit is longer than 20 hours. The intent underlying this Guideline is to ensure that users with disabilities are given adequate time to interact with web content whenever possible. People with disabilities such as blindness, low vision, dexterity impairments, and cognitive limitations may require more time to read content or to perform functions such as filling out online forms. If web functions are timedependent, it will be difficult for some users to perform the required action before a time limit occurs. This may render the service inaccessible to them. Designing functions that are not time-dependent will help people with disabilities succeed at completing these functions. Providing options to disable time limits, customize the length of time limits, or request more time before a time limit occurs helps those users who require more time than expected to successfully complete tasks. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level A) prescribes that for moving, blinking, scrolling, or auto-updating information, all of the following are true: For any moving, blinking or scrolling information that (1) starts automatically, (2) lasts more than five seconds, and (3) is presented in parallel with other content, there is a mechanism for the user to pause, stop, or hide it unless the movement, blinking, or scrolling is part of an activity where it is essential; and for any auto-updating information that (1) starts automatically and (2) is presented in parallel with other content, there is a mechanism for the user to pause, stop, or hide it or to

40 control the frequency of the update unless the auto-updating is part of an activity where it is essential. This Guideline is designed to avoid distracting users during their interaction with a webpage, as content that moves or auto-updates can be a barrier to anyone who has trouble reading stationary text quickly as well as anyone who has trouble tracking moving objects. It can also cause problems for screen readers, which hampers accessibility. 32. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level AAA) provides that timing is not an essential part of the event or activity presented by the content, except for non-interactive synchronized media and real-time events. This Guideline is intended to minimize the occurrence of content that requires timed interaction. This enables people with blindness, low vision, cognitive limitations, or motor impairments to interact with content. This differs from the Level A Guideline in that the only exception under this Guideline is for real-time events. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level AAA) requires that interruptions can be postponed or suppressed by the user, except interruptions involving an emergency. This Guideline is important because it allows access by people with cognitive limitations or attention disorders by enabling them to focus on the content. It also allows users who are blind or have low vision to keep their focus on the content they are currently reading. Guideline of W3C s WCAG 2.0 (Level AAA) provides that when an authenticated session expires, the user