Webdragon

The organising committee for the London 2012 Olympics is facing criticisms that the website built to sell tickets to events is not accessible to people with disabilities.

Friday 3 December 2010 is International Day of People with Disability - a day to recognise the achievements and contributions of people with a disability.

Voluntary application of technical standards on accessibility of web sites to people with disabilities has proved "inadequate", suggesting more formal regulation is needed, the US government has said.

In July, the US House of Representatives passed the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, designed to ensure access to rich web content across a whole plethora of devices.

Last month marked the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). At the time, of its enactment, the legislation was a landmark, and it is still considered of global importance. Now, the US Department of Justice has announced that there will be new specific rule-markings regarding website accessibility for public and private entities.

Accessibility is about making tools usable by a wide variety of people, taking into account each person's different abilities. On the web, this means making sites compatible with a wide variety of assistive technologies. Now some new technology is making it possible for people who are blind to drive cars.

A California judge has ruled that a lawsuit brought against the Target Corporation may proceed under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The catch here is that the suit, leveled by the National Federation of the Blind, covers the design of Target's website.