[Linux-aus] comment for an article on Government website accessibility

[Dahna McConnachie]

Hi everyone,

Just thought I would give you the link to the story I ended up writing
on the ANAO audit re. accessibility etc. of Gov. documents. It is a
bit epic: http://www.technologyandbusiness.com.au/pcs-peripherals/Features/ANAO--Room-for-improvement-with-Gov--online-access.aspx

I included most of your comments, I think. Hopefully I have
represented them all in context. If anything is amiss please let me
know. Feel free to add more comments under the story on the actual
site (ironically run on a Microsoft server) as well. :)

Thanks again for your responses.

Cheers,

Dahna
Editor,
Technology and Business
http://www.technologyandbusiness.com.au/

2009/5/26 Dahna McConnachie <dahna.mcconnachie at gmail.com>:
> Hi all,
>
> I am seeking some comments from Linux users for an article I am
> putting together, triggered by the ANAO's recently released audit
> report: "Online Availability of Government Entities' Documents Tabled
> in the Australian Parliament":
> http://www.anao.gov.au/director/publications/auditreports/2008-2009.cfm
>
> The report found, contrary to objectives set out to support open
> standards, that of the documents examined in 2008, only about 25 per
> cent were in
> HTML and less than five per cent were in RTF. 23. In contrast, over 95
> per cent of the documents examined in 2008 were in PDF, being a
> proprietary software format.
>
> I want to use this report as the basis for a broader article on
> Technology and Business (http://www.technologyandbusiness.com.au/)
> about Government websites generally and where they stand in terms of
> accessibility and open standards. I noticed there were some recent
> comments about this on the forum in terms of AGIMO's suggestions etc.
>
> I am just keen to get some responses from some Linux users about using
> Government websites generally.
>
> *Do you often have interoperability issues with Government websites,
> and particularly with publications within these websites? To what
> extent? Does the Government generally have a long way to go in terms
> of ensuring that people who use open source systems and software can
> fully access all of its published content? Any other comments about
> the report specifically? Any other comments generally?
>
> I look forward to hearing back from some of you in the next 12 hours or so....
>
> Cheers,
>
> Dahna
>