Accessibility check: Is the Paralympics website ready for action?

At AbilityNet we're running checks to see how the Rio 2016 Paralympics website works for people with sight loss and other disabilities. The Rio 2016 Olympics site failed in several key areas. The good news is that the Paralympic site, at first glance, does look better. However, there are some issues too. See what our checkers have picked up on, below:

The positives

1 There is a ‘skip content’ link
This allows people who have trouble using a mouse, or those using a screenreader, to quickly navigate through site menus by tabbing to find what they want, rather than having to hear content that isn't of interest.

2 Contrast / enlarge text customisation option
Allowing anyone with a visual impairment, colour blindness and those with other disabilities to see content more clearly and easily

3 Most images and buttons do have alt tags
Meaning screenreaders can decipher various elements of a site easily and everyone gets a fuller picture. This was not the case with the Olympics 2016 site.
 


 

The negatives

1 Confusing homepage link
The main Paralympics logo (which is a link to the homepage, as with most sites) is not labelled accurately as 'home page'. Instead, it's entitled 'Go to' which is not clear or useful to a screenreader.

2. Unlinked text for language selection
The words 'language selection' on the home page are static text. There is no option to actually select a language, whether you are sighted or blind.

3 Confused and broken links for auto play
There is a button on the homepage called ‘stop auto play’ but it is not clear what the purpose of this button is and when clicked it just takes you to the top of the page.


Our team works with organisations around the UK to ensure their sites comply with UK law and meet accessibility standards. We will update you as we do further checks on the Rio 2016 Paralympics site.

For more information about how we make the AbilityNet site accessible, see here: https://www.abilitynet.org.uk/accessibility-statement.