MORE than 80 per cent of businesses could be facing prosecution for having websites that are inaccessible to disabled people.

Websites, as well as buildings, have to be accessible to disabled people, under laws that came into force last year. If they are not, businesses could be breaching the Disability Discrimination Act and could face prosecution.

John Rumney, head of civil litigation at Gordon Brown Associates, said: "Many people incorrectly assume the Act only deals with accessibility to buildings and services.

"Changes to the Act, which came into effect in October 2004, specify that all employers and service providers are legally obliged to make their websites and intranets accessible to disabled people."

Businesses that take bookings over the Internet, websites advertising jobs, or a staff intranet, are obliged to have software in place to deal with this.

Mr Rumney said it was estimated that 20 per cent of web users have some form of disability and the majority use the keyboard cursor keys rather than the mouse when browsing pages.

Blind or partially sighted people are the most directly affected in their use of the Internet, using a browser that reads the content of a page out loud through a speaker or a text-only alternative to the main site.

Website design and content management must take account of such issues, he said.

"This is a real minefield for companies utilising the Internet to offer goods and services. There are no official standards of accessibility laid down, only guidelines.

"Although there has not yet been a test case under English Law, it is only a matter of time. What is abundantly clear is that the majority of businesses are not aware of these particular responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act."

Despite being a legal requirement, very few websites are accessible to disabled people. An investigation by the Disability Rights Commission found that 81 per cent failed to satisfy the most basic web accessibility criteria.

However, companies that do not make the necessary adjustments to their sites, and cannot justify why they haven't, could become a target for legal action and be liable for compensation.

"In addition to the possible legal repercussions, there are sound commercial reasons for website owners to make a concerted effort to upgrade their facility.

"No business or organisation wants to be accused of being uncaring towards the needs of the disabled. Proponents of the Act will also point to the millions of potential customers who could be reached."