BT : 'Ghetto-ising' website accessibility

Accessibility features give the counter-productive impression of primarily serving commercial needs.

The Site

BT, the dominant telecommunications provider in the UK, uses its main site’s home page to set up ‘journeys’ for key customer groups (domestic, business, public sector etc). At the foot of the page, in a utilities menu of information about the company, is a “Disability services” link to an “Age and Disability Action” website where customers can find out about dedicated services and products.

Age and Disability Action sits on BT’s group site (btplc.com) and allows older and disabled visitors to change the appearance of the site from a list of options provided as well as from their browser preferences. An “About this site” page explains how it has been made more accessible but cautions that “many links take you to other parts of BT.com… which may not be accessible”. In such cases an interim page alerts users that they are about to leave the Age and Disability Action site. Among the links that trigger the warning is one to BT Shop, where visitors can “buy online from our range of Accessible Products”.

The Takeaway

BT appears to be giving a lead in making provision for elderly and disabled customers, but its approach gives the distinct impression that it is thinking primarily of its own commercial needs rather than those of this group of users. It also implies that the rest of the site is not accessible.

The ‘Disability Services’ link might reasonably be assumed to be designed to help disabled people use the whole site. Instead it leads to a special site that is well-designed from an accessibility point of view, but is primarily aimed at selling products and services to disabled people, and does nothing to help them use the rest of BT.com (including the online shop). This is particularly strange because our initial investigations suggest that the main site is also well-designed. One of the first lines a screen reader will see is “Click for a screen reader friendly version”.

BT’s mistake is in putting Disability Services as a link at the bottom, alongside Careers, News and the like. It should be one of the main marketing links, and renamed Products and Services for Older/Disabled People. As for being accessible – well, it should be, but so should the rest of the site (by law and for all sorts of other reasons). Website accessibility is something that should be done holistically: creating a special area such as this suggests that BT still regards it as a niche activity. Bad PR, apart from anything else.

First published on 01 June, 2004