Web Accessibility is an often misunderstood term. It's not just about providing a means for disabled access to your content, it's about ensuring that all of your users get the same experience and functionality from your pages.

Your website users have a number of different setups to view the internet. There are many different web browsers available which read HTML slightly differently, users have different screen sizes, different colour depths, different platforms, machines, plug-ins, and so on... Writing accessible code and content renders your website usable to the full array of web users.

On this subject, we are part of a web alliance committed to improving user experience of the internet through the use of a web browser called Firefox (instead of Internet Explorer).

For information on the benefits of Firefox visit www.mozilla.com, for case studies visit www.switch2firefox.com, or click here to Download Firefox Now, its free!

W3C Standards Compliance via Code Validation

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the internet standards setting body and is headed by Tim Berners-Lee. Tim is the man who had an interesting little idea some time ago, which turned out to be the Internet.

Unlike many of our competitors, we practice the development of W3C valid code as standard, the benefits to you are improved search engine rankings, improved accessibility, compatibility with future browsers, faster download times, and the provision of an overall more professional impression to your users.

W3C Accessibility

The W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) state how web content should be constructed and presented. There are 3 categories of checklists: "Priority 1", "Priority 2", and "Priority 3". A website is rated either "Triple-A", "Double-A", or "A" Conformance level depending on how many checkpoints are satisfied within the priority groups.

"Triple A" conformance at the most accessible end of the scale and El Roboto aim to build all websites to adhere to this standard.

Following WCAG is our standard practice, and with recent equal rights movements it can be considered essential practice from a legal perspective. The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) states in its Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)

"It is unlawful for a service provider to discriminate against a disabled person: by refusing to provide (or deliberately not providing) any service which it provides (or is prepared to provide) to members of the public." Page 7, point 2.2

While no UK business or organisation has yet been prosecuted for having an inaccessible website, adhering to these standards can only benefit the public perception of your company