OICTDT / P5.4
OFFICE FOR ICT AND DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION – WHOLE OF
GOVERNMENT POLICY
WEBSITE ACCESSIBILITY POLICY
Purpose
The purpose of the policy is to make South Australian (SA) Government web content
accessible by all citizens, including people with disability, people living in remote locations
and those using assistive technologies and mobile devices.
Accessibility of a website is a requirement of Commonwealth and State law.
Scope
This policy applies to all SA Government websites including:


Public facing websites
Intranets (accessed within SA Government).
This policy applies to SA Government websites regardless of whether they are provided
solely by the SA Government or are partly or wholly provided by external parties on behalf of
the SA Government.
Authorisation
On 3 June 2013 the South Australian Government Website Accessibility policy position was
sent to Agency Chief Executives by the Premier of South Australia.
Legislation
Commonwealth Legislation
The Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act 1992 requires the provision of equitable
access to people with disabilities. Under the Act, it is unlawful to discriminate against a
person with a disability by excluding access to information and services, which includes
those delivered online.
South Australian Legislation
Under the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 it is unlawful to discriminate against a person with a
disability by denying or limiting access to opportunities for promotion, transfer or training, or
to other benefits connected with employment.
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Policy Detail
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.0
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 provides recommendations for
making web content more accessible to people with disabilities, as well as those located in
areas that have limited infrastructure or online services (e.g. remote or regional areas), and
those using alternative online technologies such as mobile/smart phones.
WCAG 2.0 replaced WCAG 1.0 in December 2008. WCAG 2.0 provides four principles and
12 guidelines to make content more accessible to users with different disabilities. Three
levels of conformance have been defined to meet the needs of different groups:



A (minimum level of compliance)
AA
AAA.
The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) provides
guidance and different approaches for evaluating websites for accessibility. It also provides
a checklist for WCAG 2.0 success criteria.
Requirements
Compliance Level and Timeframe
Agencies are required to implement the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0
by selecting:


a level of compliance (level A is the minimum)
a target date for implementation (noting level A is the minimum) for their specific
websites based on their:
o business needs
o affordability
o target user groups (for example, if designing a site for retirees, accessibility is
key as this age group are highly likely to develop accessibility issues without
necessarily being aware of their access needs).
Additional Requirements
Multi-jurisdictional websites and websites created through public-private partnerships should
meet the accessibility requirement determined by the main authoring agency.
Agencies may choose to leave previous content uncompliant and state that all future content
will be compliant with their minimum selected level of WCAG 2.0 compliance.
Agencies are reminded that Portable Document Format (PDF) is not considered a
sufficiently accessible format.
The accessibility requirement applies to the information structure and format, as well as
navigational elements of a website.
Interactive elements should also be included, such as contact forms or similar, maps and
interactive data visualisation, social media integration (such as Twitter and Facebook).
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Responsibilities
Agencies are responsible for implementing this policy in relation to their own websites.
Accessible by Design
Websites and content should be created in ways that support and maximise accessibility,
including from fixed and mobile devices. Agencies should consider the varied needs of their
users, and plan for accessibility from the outset. Where accessibility problems are known,
agencies should put in place implementation plans to address the problem, then endeavour
to minimise future risk by using standards-based web technologies and best practice content
management processes.
Web Technologies
Agencies must not rely upon any web technology that cannot demonstrate WCAG 2.0
conformance. Web technologies that claim accessibility support must prove WCAG 2.0
conformance through the use of WCAG 2.0 sufficient techniques.
Procurement Policies
Procurement policies should be reviewed to ensure that they are updated to require all
relevant ICT procurements to include web accessibility criteria.
Reporting
Agencies are required to report on website accessibility through their Disability Access and
Inclusion Plan reports. For further information refer to DPC Circular 13, 3.15 Disability
Access and Inclusion Plans.
References, Links & Additional Information
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
 Website Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0
 Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Overview
 Evaluating Accessibility: Overview, WAI, W3C
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Document Control
ID
OICTDT/P5.4
Version
2.0
Classification/DLM
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Compliance
Mandatory
Original authorisation date
September 2013
Last approval date
Next review date
September 2016
Licence
With the exception of the Government of South Australia brand, logos and any images, this work
is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 Licence. To attribute this material,
cite the Office for Digital Government, Department of the Premier and Cabinet, Government of
South Australia, 2016.
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