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New Web Accessibility Service Takes the Practical Approach

Press Release

By: Zendor
17 December 2003

Zendor, the Manchester-based interactive and fulfilment specialist launches a web accessibility service, which provides practical recommendations to financial organisations and retailers on how they can make their websites more ‘accessible’ to visually impaired users.

Many web accessibility services concentrate on explaining how the Disability Discrimination Act (1995)* impacts on companies with an online presence, rather than focusing on the ‘practical’ implications of the Act. With Zendor’s new web accessibility service (referred to as an ‘accessibility design review’), clients are presented with in-depth, actionable recommendations and practical support, if needed, on how to make websites accessible in line with the guidelines by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) www.w3c.org (the accepted authority on web accessibility).

With the Disability Discrimination Act’s (DDA) deadline of October 2004 looming, companies with a web presence are under increasing pressure to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to their websites so that they are accessible to the visually impaired. There is still some confusion regarding exactly what companies need to do to make their website compliant with the new regulations. In recognition of this, Zendor’s accessibility service has been designed to cut-through the confusion, and provide clear, comprehensive and practical page-by-page design recommendations.

Zendor’s accessibility service is primarily targeted at financial companies, many of whom are currently denying visually impaired customers the opportunity to bank and perform other transactions online. Major retailers are also likely to follow suit as they recognise not only their moral and legal obligation, but also the financial benefits of enabling what is a substantial proportion of the population (over 1.7 million people with sight problems in the UK alone) to shop online. Zendor’s accessibility design review includes a page-by-page in-depth analysis of the client’s existing website. A report detailing actionable recommendations in order for the site to comply with the W3C guidelines is presented to the client on completion of the analysis.

Clients can choose to carry out the re-design themselves or Zendor can undertake the project on their behalf. Zendor also offers the option of a website re-assessment once the design recommendations have been implemented.

Zendor can also provide a usability service in conjunction with the accessibility review. Usability goes hand-in-hand with accessibility in that it establishes how user-friendly and navigable a website is for all users, whether they are visually impaired or not.

Notes

*October 2004 is the deadline that the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) has given companies to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to their websites so that they are accessible to disabled people. As the deadline looms closer, the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) is applying increased pressure to companies with an online presence, especially financial companies, many of whom are currently denying visually impaired customers the opportunity to bank and perform other transactions online. Under the DDA Act, companies who do not make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to their websites are liable for prosecution.