Recommendation 30.1.1 Alternative accessible pages if necessary
The New Zealand Web Standards 2.0 were released in March 2009 and replace the previous version, the New Zealand Government Web Standards 1.0 (below). See Meeting the standards for more information.
The Recommendation
Recommendation 30.1.1 Alternative accessible pages if necessary.
If, after best efforts, you cannot create an accessible page, provide a link to an alternative page that uses W3C technologies, is accessible, has equivalent information (or functionality), and is updated as often as the inaccessible (original) page.
Guide to this recommendation
This recommendation covers the W3C WAI checkpoint 11.4 for NZ government agencies.
Rationale for this recommendation
It is very frustrating for users to navigate to an alternative page, only to find that content is out of date or missing. This can happen if no editorial or quality assurance process is in place to ensure that all versions of a web page are equally up to date.
If non-W3C technologies are used, the user may be forced to download plug-ins or stand-alone applications which could be inaccessible. W3C technologies include standardised versions of HTML, XML, Style sheets, multimedia and many other technologies. The W3C continually review these technologies for accessibility. They are non-proprietary, making them usable across a wide variety of browsers and user agents. By using them, you are more likely to embed accessibility in your web site.
