27 April 2017

Jacqui Burns

Make your services more accessible - Texthelp’s Top Five Tips

We’ve pulled together our top five recommendations for making your digital services more accessible to all.

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The internet is changing the way we live - we pay our taxes online, apply for jobs, book travel and search the web for offers and information.  It’s changing the way government delivers services and information too - driving customers to ‘self serve’ online offers 24-7 access to services and information, whilst delivering considerable cost and efficiency savings.

But for millions, the internet is inaccessible.  There are 12 million people in the UK who lack the basic digital skills required to go online.

By law, your website must be accessible to all. That's where the accessible information standard policy comes in.

The 12 million people who lack basic digital skills are protected by the Equality Act and the Accessible Information Standard which state that service providers must not discriminate against disabled people.  Websites are considered services too so by law, they should be accessible to everyone.  Afterall, if you want citizens to use your online services it makes sense to make them as accessible as possible, right?

Making online services more accessible benefits everyone, not just those with disabilities. For example, there are 4 million people in the UK who don't speak English as their first language - using online services can be just as challenging for them.

Top Five

So, we’ve pulled together our top five recommendations for making your services more accessible to all.



Appoint an accessibility champion at a senior level to establish a culture where accessibility thinking becomes part of everything you do.




 

Ensure your website design adheres to WCAG 2.0 standards


 

   

 
Consider implementing Browsealoud to provide your content in alternative formats such as reading it out loud, translating it, converting it to an audio file and magnifying it.



Are your services transitioning online? Here's some free resources to support you in making your digital content more accessible.