“Fix the Web” harnesses community power (and JISC TechDis code)

When JISC TechDis were approached to be involved with Fix the Web last year we liked the idea of making it easy for disabled users to report inaccessible websites.

 The idea of Fix the Web is to harness the power of the web to leverage community strength and knowledge. A disabled user comes across an inaccessible website, sends a report to the Fix the Web team who then record the issue and forward it to one of their volunteer ‘web advocates’ who will contact the site owner, explain the problems and suggest – or signpost – solutions.

In its original conception Fix the Web relied on users reporting websites via Twitter or directly on the Fix The Web website. In early conversation with Gail Bradbrook, Alistair McNaught suggested a browser plugin would make it much easier for disabled users to report inaccessible sites. Alistair pointed Gail to the team at Southampton University who had developed the JISC TechDis open source toolbar. It seemed plausible that the Southampton team could add a simple reporting mechanism to the core code of the accessibility toolbar, creating added value from our original investment.

We were delighted to hear recently that Fix the Web and Southampton University have successfully incorporated a Fix the Web reporting button into the Accessibility Toolbar that Southampton evolved from the original JISC TechDis project. If you want to find the new plugin and use it for you or your learners to report any inaccessible sites please download it from http://www.fixtheweb.net/toolbar. You can find out more about making a difference by volunteering your web accessibility awareness and expertise at http://www.fixtheweb.net/being-volunteer.