Web Accessibility

Making a Difference Through Inclusivity

Making a Difference

VerseOne specialises in designing and implementing dynamic, Accessible websites, intranets, and other web content projects. In fact, VerseOne is passionate about Web Accessibility—a passion that is shared by the whole company. Every site built by VerseOne complies with Success Criteria Level 2 (AA) of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and can be implemented to achieve a higher level if requested by the customer. Each member of the VerseOne design team has been trained in the art of creating exciting and Accessible web designs, and every website created by VerseOne is tested by a full Web Accessibility panel, made up of experts and users with a variety of disabilities and access challenges. In this way, VerseOne ensures that Web Accessibility is always at the forefront of the user experience.

To complement its dedication to the technical side of Web Accessibility, VerseOne also implements web projects in accordance with BS (British Standard) 8878, a recently published framework created to help British public and private organisations comply with the WCAG and meet their legal and ethical obligations with regard to digital inclusion. BS 8878 has been written specifically for non-technical professionals and describes a step-by-step process, from the inception of each project through tender, implementation, and post-launch testing, by which the members of any web project team can address usability, Accessibility, and creating a superior user experience. The recommendations in BS 8878 are geared toward building Web Accessibility into every web project from the ground up—a journey in which VerseOne has always striven to take part by engaging with its customers in the Information Architecture Process, which can be described as a practical manifestation of BS 8878.

VerseOne maintains relationships with the RNIB, Userite, and the Shaw Trust—independent organisations that provide training and work opportunities for people disadvantaged in the labour market due to disability, ill health or other social circumstances. Like these organisations, VerseOne firmly believes that Web Accessibility creates opportunities and improves lives, and inclusivity is at the heart of every VerseOne project.

Putting Users at the Centre of the Web

Web Accessibility is the science and skill of ensuring that a website is navigable, readable and comprehensible by people regardless of language, background, social circumstances, or disability—whether it is sight impairment, learning difficulties, dyslexia or mobility impairment. It is a legal requirement for all publicly funded websites to conform to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and comply with the Equality Act, which superseded many sections of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).

People with certain disabilities or access challenges can find it difficult or even impossible to access, navigate, or read the content of a web page if the information isn't presented correctly—a circumstance which can impede access to vital services or information.

For instance, blind or visually impaired computer users often use screen-reading software (such as Jaws or Supernova), which read the contents of a page in an electronic voice. An inAccessible web page can often mean that screenreaders have difficulty translating the visual media and graphics into audio format, and as a result the user is unable to enjoy an experience equivalent to that of a user without disability.

Web Accessibility experts recommend that before any site goes live, it should be rigorously tested by experienced users of adaptive technology for access by people who have disabilities or other challenges that can make it difficult for them to use the web.

No website can claim to be truly Accessible until it has been subjected to this real-life examination of the tools and choices that put users' access at the heart of the web experience.

Last updated: 16 May 2012