News

Volume 6 Issue 6 - September 01, 2009

Newly launched Rajya Sabha website not W.C.A.G. compliant

D.N.I.S. News Network, India: Showing shocking disregard to government’s own guidelines which require websites to be W.C.A.G. 2.0 compliant, the Rajya Sabha’s newly launched website has failed to pass an accessibility test on several counts.

The new website was launched by Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice - President of India, Mohammad Hamid Ansari on July 30. In his inaugural speech he said that the newly designed website of the House “aimed at disseminating information to the people” and that “the website was an important tool that can be accessed by people” to know of the proceedings.

A few pages of the website www.rajyasabha.nic.in were tested for accessibility by BarrierBreak Technologies. And the results are shocking to say the least! The website has failed on several counts of W.C.A.G. 2.0 compliance.

“The website has inappropriate alternate texts and heading structures, link to main content, form labels are missing. There are no means to control the moving content and it has invalid X.H.T.M.L. codes,” said Shilpi Kapoor, Managing Director, BarrierBreak Technologies.

The website fails on 13 counts of Level A compliance and 6 counts of Level A.A. With the Parliament itself flouting the norms, the government’s promise of making 50 government websites accessible has certainly come under a cloud.

Click here for the full audit report of www.rajyasabha.nic.in prepared by BarrierBreak Technologies (Excel - 154 KB)