Accessibility services
Designing for people with disabilities is important from a legal and moral standpoint. And successful organisations know that accessibility lets them maximise the size of their user base.
There are lots of good reasons to consider disabled people when designing interactive products:
- With an ageing population, the demand for accessible products and services is increasing. Around 20% of people in the UK have some sort of disability. Ignoring them means ignoring a sizeable chunk of revenue.
- There is a legal requirement to ensure that websites and services are accessible. The UK Disability Discrimination Act (1995) places a duty on service providers to make 'reasonable adjustments' for disabled people.
- Designing for accessibility is socially responsible. Disabled users find access to interactive products and services particularly empowering. Is excluding them really acceptable?
Accessibility means better design
Accessible products are better designed and more useful, improving customer uptake and satisfaction. For example, keyboard shortcuts work well for blind users, but also for expert users. Clear and simple information design and copy work well for people with dyslexia, but also for busy executives. Well-formed, standards-compliant HTML helps blind people use screen reader software, but it also renders well across all browsers and on mobile devices.
Flow provides inclusive design and accessibility advice as a part of all the services we offer. We think it's an essential ingredient of a successful user experience.
We can also provide specific accessibility services, including accessibility audits, research with disabled users, and training.
Website accessibility audits
Our audits check accessibility on two levels:
The technical level: We ensure that the HTML conforms to relevant standards and is appropriate for use by assistive technologies. Typically, we will audit for conformance to W3C WAI guidelines or help our clients achieve RNIB See it Right accreditation.
The human level: Not all accessibility issues with a website are caused by the underlying HTML. Use of images, colours, layout and vocabulary can all have an effect on a site's accessibility. Our experience with interaction design and working with disabled users lets us identify accessibility issues that can't be spotted just by looking at HTML.
Audits typically generate detailed reports with checklists, code snippets, and suggestions for improvement.
Accessibility testing
Auditing alone is not enough to make a site truly accessible. Flow can recruit users with different disabilities (such as cognitive, visual, and dexterity impairments). We work with them in the lab or in their own homes, trying out tasks and letting them explore the interface. This approach gives you real insight into how the product works for disabled users.
Accessibility testing is often paired with auditing, so results feed back into the audit report. A presentation of results including video clips from the testing can be very useful.
Training
Maintenance and updating will degrade your site's accessibility over time unless your team understands how to keep it up to scratch. We work with your website team, including developers, designers and copy writers, to help them understand disabled users' needs and how to build and run an accessible site.
Accessibility training and workshops typically last up to 1 day and involve video clips, games and exercises.
