When we decided to change the Community Living Welland Pelham website, accessibility was key in the rebuild. It was clear to us after talking with people supported by our association, staff, families and the community that accessibility and usability was one of the top items that needed changing.
What does website accessibility mean?
All users can have equal access to the website information and functionality.
What does website usability mean?
Thinking about how and why people use our website means more than just ease of use, it means utilizing a user-centric design.
When designing the website we followed the Wordwide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCGA) to meet the standards as much as possible while still keeping an up-to-date professional design.
The specific needs that website accessibility and usability seeks to address include:
Visual
Visual impairments including blindness, low vision and poor eyesight, and colour blindness.
Motor/Mobility
Difficulty or inability to use the hands; including tremors, muscle slowness, and loss of fine muscle control which results in an inability to use a mouse pointer.
Auditory
Deafness or hearing impairments, including individuals who are hard of hearing.
Intellectual Disability
An intellectual disability, simply stated, is a disability that significantly affects one’s ability to learn and use information.
Seizures
Photo epileptic seizures caused by visual strobe or flashing effects.
Age-Related
Age-related processes and impairments which will include many of the areas stated above.
Each of the above were top of mind when designing the new Community Living Welland Pelham website.
Our site is also mobile device ready so people using smart phones, tablets and touch devices can access the full website.
A website is never done and ours will continue to be a work in progress, what is most important is making sure the site is up to date and that the high standards for accessibility is continued to be maintained.
We welcome comments about your experience, please contact us at kerrythomas@cl-wellandpelham.ca.