On this page:
The Accessibility of This Site
Access Keys
You can access the key features of this site without the need for a mouse.
To navigate with access keys:
Windows
Hold down the 'Alt' key and the access key , followed by the 'Enter' key
Macintosh
Hold down the 'Ctrl' key and the access key .
The pages on this website comply with the recommended UK Government access keys standard:
- 0 - Access key details
- 1 - Home page
- 2 - Accessibility Page
- 3 - Services Page
- 4 - Portfolio Page
- 5 - Graphics Page
- 6 - Contact Page
- 7 - Search Field
- 8 - Search Button
Images
All content images on this site are provided with descriptive ALT attributes. Where images contain important information, such as graphs and charts, alternative information is provided in the form of inline descriptions of tabular data.
Navigation
All pages contain a link to the home page (access key 1), contact page (access key 6) and search box (access key 7) .
Skip navigation (access key S) is available to users of screen readers and speech browsers, to bypass repeated page elements - such as the top and side navigation links - and jump directly to the page content.
Back to top.The benefits of accessible and useable web sites
Not all users see your site the way you see it. There might be obstacles preventing them from using it too. The solution is to identify and remove as many of those obstacles as possible.
Focusing on simple design based on real user needs allows you to plan customer journeys and offer information more effectively. The more people are able to access and use your website, the more they can do business with you.
Adapting an existing site or designing a new site with web standards and accessibility in mind opens up your information to many more user-agents and makes your site future-proof.
Organisations have, up until recently, had to design several versions of their site for different media. This sometimes involved having a main website (or several to cope with different browser capabilities), a website for mobile devices that only browse WAP enabled pages and a 'text-only' version for people with visual impairments.
Designing for access means applying usability heuristics, web standards and accessibility guidelines . This means a 'one site fits all' approach whereby your site is available across all media and user-agents and is accessible to those who wouldn't normally be able to access it (blind people use the internet to do business too).
Accessible websites are also ranked higher by search engines and web crawlers than non-accessible sites, so your site can be found more easily. This offers you the potential to expand your market share and should become an important part of any search engine optimisation strategy .
The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
The Web Accessibility Initiative was set up by the W3C to promote universality of access regardless of disability .
The W3C advocates making sites accessible by using standard-compliant mark-up that supports media-specific style sheets so that authors may tailor the presentation of their documents to visual browsers, aural devices, printers, Braille devices, handheld devices, etc .
The WAI consists of web content accessibility guidelines and a set of checklists graded into priorities levels, dependant upon the required level of compliance.
The Law regarding accessibility in the UK
The Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 (UK) has important implications for online service providers.
In broad terms, the ddA makes it unlawful to discriminate against disabled people in the way in which organisations recruit and employ people; provide services; or provide education. Discrimination can take place in two ways - by treating a disabled person less favourably; and/or by failing to make "reasonable adjustments" so that disabled people can participate in employment and education or make use of a service .
The relevant parts of the Act are:
2.2: "The Act makes it unlawful for a service provider to discriminate against a disabled person by refusing to provide any service which it provides to members of the public."
4.7: "From 1st October 1999 a service provider has to take reasonable steps to change a practice which makes it unreasonably difficult for disabled people to make use of its services."
2.13 - 2.17: "[for example]...an airline company provides a flight reservation and booking service to the public on its website. This is a provision of a service and is subject to the act."
5.23: "For people with visual impairments, the range of auxiliary aids or services which it might be reasonable to provide to ensure that services are accessible might include...accessible websites."
5.26: "For people with hearing disabilities, the range of auxiliary aids or services which it might be reasonable to provide to ensure that services are accessible might include...accessible websites."
You can download the full code of practice in pdf format. You may also wish to view the Statutory Instrument which gives an explanatory note of the Disability Discrimination Code of Practice.
What UK organisations say about this
The RNIB has set out a set of ethical standards for businesses and the benefits that designing for access can reward you with and which include: increased market share and audience reach; improved usability; reduction of maintenance costs and greater compatibility with future [user-agent] developments.
The Law regarding accessibility in the US
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments 1998 has a set of standards also based on the WAI access guidelines.
The Act has implications for US
based organisations
(or foreign participants with operations in the US),
with regard to online operations.
The relevant part of the Act is:
"The provisions ensure access for people with vision impairments who rely on various assistive products to access computer-based information, such as screen readers, which translate what's on a computer screen into automated audible output, and refreshable Braille displays" .