India to require audible Web sites

From The Times of India:

BANGALORE, India -- Websites will soon be accessible to the disabled, especially the visually-impaired, once the Union government makes it mandatory for all websites to go audible.

For this, websites have to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. This new standard, along with a screen reader, will make content audible through a headphone or a speaker. A visually-impaired person can use the keyboard to respond -- the tab keys will take him or her through different links.

The project has been given to BarrierBreak Technologies and will take 10%-15% of the ordinary project cost.

"It will not only help blind people, but also aged and illiterate people," said Javed Abidi, National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People.

The idea came up last year on December 3, `Day for the Disabled', in Delhi. "The IT ministry was proactive about the programme. The draft, approved by the ministry, will be released soon," he said. The policy would be extended to other hardware as well -- like the ATM, television, washing machine and microwave. This will be the second phase of the project.