The British Standard for Web Accessibility BS8878 has been published as a second draft and is available for comments until 30 June 2010.

As part of its ongoing involvement in the development of digital policies and standards, COI has worked with the likes of BBC, RNIB, IBM, Lloyds-TSB and Nomensa to develop this standard.

The Government has already adopted PAS 78, through TG102 Delivering inclusive websites, requiring websites to have and accessibility policy detailing the process for maintaining website accessibility over time. BS8878 builds on PAS 78 and provides a comprehensive approach to delivering web accessibility.

It’s not a technical standard with a strict set of criteria for compliance. It’s a process standard dealing with organisational responsibilities for ensuring web accessibility and looking at the entire production process including:

• Procurement
• Design and evaluation
• Maintenance
• Managing feedback

It also covers topics such as the UK Equality Act 2010 and the use of personalisation to deliver inclusive websites.

The standard is not a replacement of existing web standards, namely the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Rather, it is meant to work alongside WCAG 2.0 and link to it where appropriate.

There is still time to get your comments in on the BSI website, so please tell us what you think. We know there’s still room for improvement.