Text-Only Site

Sometimes a situation may arise where a text-only page can be used, with equivalent information or functionality, as an alternative to the primary site. This is only in situations where compliance to accessibility cannot be achieved by any other means. The content of the text-only page must be as close as possible to the content of the primary page, along with being updated whenever the primary page changes. One of the premises behind accessibility is that when making pages accessible, we provide an "equal experience" for the disabled users.

Judgement

It is not considered good practice to rely on a text-only site as a solution to accessibility. There are two parts to evaluating a Web page for compliance with the text-only provision. The first part is figuring out whether or not accessibility is attainable any other way. If at all possible, the primary site should be made accessible. If it is determined that the primary site cannot be made accessible, a text-only page can be used until the primary page can be made accessible. The text-only version must offer the same functionality and content as the primary page.

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