Assistance Services
What is the cost of incorporating accessibility, quite simply accessibility does not cost more, its quality and knowledge that is the key to success of any website development. Undertaking quality development can actually reduce the cost and increase the benefits.
Many business do not understand about web accessibility and only have an unregulated Internet industry to guide them. Unfortunately, many (too many) web design companies have very little understanding about real world accessibility and may only provide tickbox checking on standards requirements.
We will help you understand how and why accessibility is important, we can assist your business and help our communities. Our commitment is to provide quality services and it’s guaranteed. Get in touch, even if it’s just for a no cost second opinion, we are here to help and we are passionate about or work.
Approach to Accessibility
Ideally accessibility needs to be factored in right from the start, when accessibility is incorporated during or at the end of any website development it can lead to a lot of frustration and problems that can take significant effort to fix. When accessibility is incorporated from the beginning of a new development or redesign it will be easier, more effective and certainly less expensive.
However, if your website is already out there you should have it evaluated for potential barriers. An initial evaluation will clarify any necessary repairs or barriers that are present. Retrofitting and fixing barriers needs to be prioritised and depending on how your website has been developed, impact, effort and priority will need to be considered and planned effectively to make most of everyones time.
Getting involved and getting it right:
- Initial evaluation.
- Define the priorities.
- Develop an implementation plan.
- Implementation assistance.
- Evaluate progress (checklists, checkpoints, feedback and time lines).
- Support, monitor progress and quality control.
Working with your organisation, we can get you started with an independent and objective evaluation of your current situation, and by giving you a timed plan we can help you achieve the benefits that a high level accessibility will deliver, like financial savings and a great deal of gratitude from your visitors.
As part of our full service we assist with:
- Understanding accessibility and internal advocacy.
- Define the scope and goals of accessibility.
- Co ordinating resources.
- Development assistance.
- Template structure and style sheet presentation.
- Internal style guides and accessibility standards.
- Training for internal accessibility standards.
- Accessibility knowledge base.
Accessible Content
Developing an accessible website is one thing, understanding how to write and publish accessible content is another very important part of web accessibility.
Writing for the web
Writing content for your audience can be tricky at first but with a little education it is easy to write great content, it’s an essential part of communication, credibility and good findability.
Publishing on the web
We can help you with content publishing and teach you about correctly using natural language, meaningful link text, images, how to create structured documents that can be made accessible and developing a good workflow if you are using a CMS to publish your content to the web.
Benefits and Rewards of Accessibility
Accessibility benefits can be difficult to quickly understand and equate due to the amount of technologies and skill sets required. The financial benefits of accessibility however, are clear and tangible. Simpler maintenance, reduced development costs, search engine friendliness, greater browser compatibility and future-proofing towards emergent technologies are some of the important benefits.
The rewards of implementing good accessibility are in every sense of the word, priceless. Improved usability, increased customer awareness, disability support, support for ESOL, executive sanity and ultimately informed social responsibility will add respect and value to any organisation large or small.
- Improved search engine listings and website discovery.
- Improved usability for non-disabled and disabled visitors.
- Increased public confidence.
- Re-use of content for other formats and devices.
- Better access for low-bandwidth users.
- Reduce site maintenance.
Accessibility is about making your site available to the widest possible audience no matter what their browser, device, connection speed or disability.
Even meeting the most basic levels of accessible design will put you ahead of the majority of websites. Get in contact with us for an informal chat to learn how we can help.