Accessibility
"Website accessibility is a serious issue. It has been a legal requirement for UK websites to be accessible since 1999 and since then all websites have been expected to make 'reasonable adjustments' to ensure their websites accommodate all users regardless of ability, disability."
"Accessibility should be a fundamental part of planning a website and generally adds only a small margin to overall cost when building from scratch. This can be offset with the potential savings in development and maintenance time, together with tapping into the increased profitability of a broader market reach. Not taking accessibility into account from the start can lead to an expensive and often painful retrofit for a site." (RNIB - Business Benefits [opens in new window])
All of the sites we develop conform to current W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) HTML or XHTML and CSS standards.
Sites are developed to conform to at least W3C WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) level A with the following basic functionalities:
- Increase font size;
- Text only pages;
- Skip navigation link (enables screenreaders to jump to the main content);
- Providing clear, consistent navigation (makes finding information easier);
- Providing understandable and clear content - we can provide training in writing effective content for the web;
- We aim to use logical and semantic code to ensure easy access for alternative web display technologies;
- We build sites that separate content from design - making the site more accessible for alternative web display technologies and ensuring repurposing of content in the future is simple.
Why do it?
- Reduces website maintenance costs in the long-term;
- Greater compatibility and future proofing.
Some useful statistics:
- 59 million - The approximate population of the United Kingdom (source: ONS);
- 8.5 million - The number of people with some form of disability in the United Kingdom (source: ONS);
- 2 million - The number of people with sight problems (source: RNIB);
- £40-50 billion - The combined estimated spending power of disabled people (source: Employers Forum on Disability).
(above statistics from RNIB - Business Benefits [opens in new window])
What we provide as standard is what we consider the most important to ensure your business makes 'reasonable adjustments'.
We are more than happy to talk through the in's and out's of accessibility and the potential impacts for your business.
One thing is for sure though, you cannot afford to ignore the issue so contact us now.
