Recognising opportunities to make digital experiences more accessible
Published: 07/02/2022
Author: Jessica Higgins
New accessibility legislation and changes to guidelines can feel like a minefield to navigate.
New accessibility legislation and changes to guidelines can feel like a minefield to navigate. Here at focusgov, we are at the forefront of accessibility, ensuring our apps, websites and tools meet accessibility guidelines. All local authority apps had a deadline of 23rd June 2021 (websites had an earlier deadline of September 2020) to meet WCAG 2.1 accessibility guidelines.
Making your website / app accessible
Making a website or mobile app accessible means making sure it can be used by as many people as possible.
Making your website / app accessible
Making a website or mobile app accessible means making sure it can be used by as many people as possible.
At least 1 in 5 people in the UK have a long-term illness, impairment or disability. Many more have a temporary disability. This includes those with:
- impaired vision
- neurodiversity
- motor difficulties
- cognitive impairments or learning disabilities
- deafness or impaired hearing.
Web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG) defines how to make web content more accessible; this legislation continues to tighten with the release of WCAG 2.2 and 2023’s planned release of WCAG 3.0. WCAG’s aim is to provide digital equality by helping people with disabilities and older people with changing abilities to navigate online.
At focusgov, accessibility and digital equality is at the heart of all our work, every app and website created with focusgov will meet - and where possible overachieve on - accessibility guidelines, evident in Wiltshire County Council's "Our Words" Care Leavers App.
We continue to recognise opportunities to improve accessibility in digital as our tools can work with third party accessibility software that you might already use. As we innovate, we add new accessibility features such as our recent inclusion of the OpenDyslexic font in our latest Care Leaver Apps for Tower Hamlets and Wiltshire Councils
At focusgov, accessibility and digital equality is at the heart of all our work, every app and website created with focusgov will meet - and where possible overachieve on - accessibility guidelines, evident in Wiltshire County Council's "Our Words" Care Leavers App.
We continue to recognise opportunities to improve accessibility in digital as our tools can work with third party accessibility software that you might already use. As we innovate, we add new accessibility features such as our recent inclusion of the OpenDyslexic font in our latest Care Leaver Apps for Tower Hamlets and Wiltshire Councils
With WCAG 2.2 scheduled to be completed and published by June 2022, accessibility, equality and inclusion remains the forefront of our work. We will continue to communicate and guide our clients as to the best ways to meet WCAG 2.2. We also recognise that being accessible is good online practice for all website and app users, and results in using new technologies and build methods to achieve great online results. Accessibility should not be seen as something only for users with additional needs.
