Do you just want to tick boxes?  

What are you looking for?

When it comes to the accessibility of your websites, do you just want to tick boxes? How many boxes do you want to tick?

It is not a loaded question, but it is usually one of the first ones that I ask.

I get a lot of enquiries from organisations and businesses who want help with their digital accessibility, normally their website, but sometimes it may be something else, such as a customer portal or an online training environment.

Let us start counting...

The starting point is nearly always WCAG AA. If you are not aware, that is commonly accepted as the minimum standard websites should reach, and is the minimum standard set by the UK government for public sector websites to achieve.

That is 1 box.

However, to achieve WCAG AA, you also have to achieve WCAG A. That is 2 boxes.

How about a test specific for screen readers? After all, people who use screen readers have a need for a website to be accessible. That is 3 boxes.

That is 3 boxes, how about 2 more?

How about coding standards? If your website is not built to an adequate, measurable coding standard, it can affect how well it works on different devices and browsers. This of course is also an accessibility issue. That is 4 boxes.

There are standards that search engines expect. It will not be found as easily iff your website does not meet those standards. This, in turn, is also an accessibility issue. We are up to 5 boxes now.

And many more!

How about boxes related to the experiences of real disabled people actually using your website? After all, you can appear to meet these standards yet still fail to be accessible. We could be up to a lot more boxes now.

However, rather than see this, as simply too much, why not simply see this as a chance to get it done properly, and to know what needs to be done?

Even if some of the issues may take a long time to fix or simply be too costly, by having them all included in your website accessibility statement, you can have an honest dialogue with the visitors to your website, which, in turn, they will greatly appreciate.

Let us help you on a flexible, affordable basis.

If you’d like to find out how we can help you with this, please get in touch +44-1243-776399 (24 hrs).

It might be that, instead of considering a full audit, you would just like some guidance on a specific issue. In this case, why not book a consult with me instead?

Please follow this link to find out more: https://accessbydesign.uk/services/consultancy/