website accessibility
Web accessibility has been a hot topic in recent years, not least because of legislation and codes of practice published in the UK and internationally in recent years which make it a legal obligation to ensure that web sites are accessible to the disabled. An accessible web site is one which has considered people with disabilities and provided a means for them to easily navigate, understand, interact and perceive the site. The W3C provides guidelines for developing accessible web sites through its Web Accessibility Initiative (
WAI) and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (
WCAG).
The Bobby tool was developed to ensure that the basic standards set out by the W3C are being met. There are 3 levels:
Bobby A is the minimum level required.- Bobby AA surpasses the minimum requirements but may have some areas where accessibility is compromised.
- Bobby AAA is the highest level of accessibility that can be achieved and is accessible to everyone.
By Law Bobby A is the minimum acceptable level of accessibility. As such Finisco ensure that all of our web solutions meet Bobby A standards.
The accessibility guidelines also benefit users without disabilities. For example, a key principle of web accessibility is designing web sites that are flexible to meet different user needs, preferences and situations. This flexibility can benefit people without disabilities in certain situations, such as people with a slow Internet connection, people with temporary disabilities, such as a broken arm, and people with changing abilities due to aging.