Australian Sailing is continuing to drive inclusion across the sport with the launch of a new accessibility website tool.  

The UserWay accessibility widget tool is now available on all the main Australian Sailing, and Discover Sailing websites, due to funding secured by Australian Sailing as part of the inclusion AAA grant program from the Victorian Government.  

The UserWay accessibility widget caters for a range of impairments and incorporates inclusive practices to ensure everyone can now access Australian Sailing websites more easily.  

The widget also meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 and ensures best practice accessibility standards.  

The Web is an increasingly significant resource in most aspects of life, including sport. Access to information and communication technologies, including the Web, is defined as a basic human right in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD).  

Globally there are: 

• More than 253 million people with visual impairments.  
• More than 360 million people with hearing impairments.  
• More than 50 million people who have epilepsy that may cause seizures.  
• 75 million people who need a wheelchair on a daily basis.  
• As many as 700 million people living with dyslexia 

Through this partnership with UserWay, many more people with intellectual and physical disabilities, deaf people/ hard of hearing and neurodiverse conditions will be able to access information on the Australian Sailing websites.  

How does it work?

The UserWay Accessibility widget is accessible via a small icon, a person on the top right-hand corner of all Australian Sailing webpages.  

Users can click on this icon and a drop-down menu will appear showing different features that users can choose to customise to suit their needs.  

The menu includes features such as text to speech, text magnification, colour contrast options, highlighting of hyperlinks, dyslexic friendly font and many more features to allow users to easily navigate Australian Sailing websites. Due to advances in the technology, users will now be also able to customise the range of accessibility options, to best suit their individual needs.  

“This is a fantastic initiative to make Australian Sailing websites more accessible to people of all abilities,” said Ian Lesson, National Participation Manager for Australian Sailing.  

“This is part of Australian Sailing’s continued commitment to improve the accessibility of its websites and communication with all users, helping drive inclusion, a key foundation of Australian Sailing’s Strategy for 2032.” 

Australian Sailing recently hosted a webinar on Inclusion that included quick wins and tips on how to make your club more inclusive, view it below.