by Bethany Rielly

TURNING train operating websites grey to mark the death of Prince Philip is “another example of disabled people being forgotten,” charities said today. 

National Rail Enquiries, Network Rail and other train operators sparked criticism today after they removed colour from their websites as a mark of respect for the deceased royal. 

The sites were later restored to full colour following complaints.
Rail staff, passengers and charities complained the switch made the site unusable and impossible to read for those with visual impairments, raising concerns about breaches of disability discrimination laws. 

Today rail union RMT issued a reminder to the industry of its legal requirement to ensure websites are accessible to all passengers, including those with disabilities. 

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “Whoever has made this decision has little or no consideration for the accessibility of disabled passengers and workers.

“It is possible to mourn for Prince Phillip without making life even more difficult for disabled people and workers to use our railways.”

Charity Scope’s accessibility specialist Elisabeth Ward said: “Accessibility always matters, even in a period of national mourning.

“This decision to change entire websites to greyscale did not consider disabled people’s access needs. It’s another example of disabled people being forgotten.”

Robin Spinks, innovation lead at sight-loss charity the Royal National Institute of Blind People, said good colour contrast on a website is “incredibly important.”

A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, which runs National Rail Enquiries, said the website was “temporarily greyscaled as a mark of respect following the death of HRH Duke of Edinburgh on Friday.

“We are listening to feedback about how people are using the website and have made further changes today to make it more accessible to all our customers.”
 
A Network Rail spokesperson said: “We’ve been made aware this has caused problems for people accessing the content, so it’s now back to its usual look. We’re sorry it’s caused issues.”

MPs dedicated seven-and-a-half hours today to pay tribute to Prince Philip in the Commons. But in Derbyshire a media row flared after Belper town councillor Jyoti Wilkinson, a Morning Star contributor, described the duke as “a massive racist.”

Following criticism Mr Wilkinson said his condolences were with the royal family “as they are with the hundreds of thousands who have lost loved ones” during Covid, but that “it must be remembered that … Prince Philip had a long, well publicised history of making racist and misogynistic remarks.”