Terms and Conditions of awarding and using the "Blind Friendly Website" logo

§ 1. Introduction

In Poland, there live approximately 6 million disabled people (source: GUS - Central Statistical Office: "Health Condition of Polish Population", 2004), that is 19% of the entire society. 30% of that group are people with eyesight disability. As far as access to websites is concerned, one should also count the people with dysfunctions which, although not classified as disability, adversely affect their eyesight. The research shows that the number of such people increases every year. They constitute a huge social group with strong purchasing power. Hence the issue of the access to web services by the disabled pertains not only to public administration but to business enterprises as well.

Creating blind friendly and visually-impaired friendly websites is not just fight against discrimination of the disabled in the political, social and economic life; it also means meeting the needs of a large group of customers. At the same time we cannot forget that the blind and visually-impaired are not the only groups threatened with digital exclusion. Other groups which can use only accessible websites include:

• people who are deaf, hard-of-hearing or deaf and mute,
• people with physical or mental disability,
• people with ADHD,
• dyslexics,
• poor people,
• elderly people,
• communities of poor regions,
• users of old-type computers,
• users of text browsers, handheld computers and other mobile hardware.

§ 2. General Provisions

1. "Blind Friendly Website" is a quality logo awarded to the websites which may be described as accessible and adapted for the needs of the disabled, especially the blind. The "Blind Friendly Website" logo enhances the prestige and competitiveness of the organisation's name on the Internet and helps build professional image of an organisation. The website awarded with that quality logo becomes more reliable to customers and lets the Internet users know that the website owners contribute to the creation of a fully democratic Internet. "Blind Friendly Website" is a logo which confirms membership of an elite group of institutions and companies meeting accessibility standards, which means that they respond to challenges of the developing information society.
   
   
2. The "Blind Friendly Website" logo is awarded exclusively by The Visibles.
   
   
3. The original "Blind Friendly Website" logo is a link. By clicking on it you obtain information about when the logo was awarded to the status site and about the logo expiry date.

§ 3. Rules of awarding and using the "Blind Friendly Website" logo

1. All public institutions, private persons, business entities and social organisations may apply to have their websites marked with the "Blind Friendly Website" logo.
   
   
2. The "Blind Friendly Website" logo is awarded on the basis of paid audit of accessibility carried out by the project blind consultants appointed by the Polish Association of the Blind, deaf consultants appointed by the Polish Association of the Deaf and experts in website accessibility.
   
   
3. Awarding the "Blind Friendly Website" logo entitles the website owner to:
   - place the logo on his/her website,
   - use the logo in his/her promotional and advertising materials during the entire period before the logo expiry date.
   
4. The Visibles' decisions to award the "Blind Friendly Website" logo will be from time to time published on the website: www.widzialni.eu. Some services will be entitled to additional form of promotion: The Visibles will inform about the conducted audit and about the awarded logo in press releases and various publications. The additionally promoted websites shall be selected at The Visibles' sole discretion.
   
5. In the event of changes to the website with the "Blind Friendly Website" logo, which will mean that the service fails to meet the necessary conditions to obtain the logo, The Visibles may decide to revoke the permit to use the logo until the errors are remedied.
   
   
6. Only "The Visibles" handle the administrative and technical aspects of the verification and awarding process related to the "Blind Friendly Website" logo.
   
7. The "Blind Friendly Website" logo is awarded for one year with an option of extension for another year on the basis of a simplified procedure and limited costs of audit.
   
   
8. Using the "Blind Friendly Website" logo is free of charge.

§ 4. Conditions of obtaining the "Blind Friendly Website" logo by a website

The "Blind Friendly Website" status is awarded only to those services which meet the W3C specifications of website accessibility (WAI at least on the first accessibility level: priority A)
and those websites which have been successfully audited by The Visibles. Detailed information about the audit of website accessibility.