Accessites.org
2006 October

The Government Offices of Sweden site simply wow’d the two assigned graders. Admittedly this site would serve well any business or institution. Typically sites like this are maintained by several individuals and this is probably the case here. As a result, and since were weren’t able to communicate with the maker, we had to add a few of the pages to a justification list due to unencoded ampersands and other such signs of inexperienced maintenance. That said, though, from a development perspective both graders thought it was top-quality and quite stunning in its design… “one of the best we’ve seen.” The biggest concern noted was a little h1 element over-use but for a large government website we decided to turn a blind eye to some of these smaller issues and award it anyway.

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The pro Barrierefreiheit web site is one of those sites that talk the accessibility talk. In this case we happily report it also walks the accessibility walk. In other words it lives up to its claims and our expectations. In the grading sheet you’ll notice that it didn’t make Priority 2 or AA, but there was only one little thing keeping from achieving that level of accessibility, and we have a hunch the developer will creatively correct this small oversight within a week if not sooner. We also noted another little issue and one oddity, but aside from these small matters this is a top-level site on which some really small details most developers don’t even think of — like language attributes — were attended to. It’s a great example of accessible usability married to style. It’s a very sophisticated and professional build and we respect that.

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This is the first in a series of three articles examining the specific learning difficulty known as dyslexia and how web design can impact the ability of those afflicted to access information on web pages. The specific needs of dyslexics tend to be overshadowed by the more widely understood needs of the visually impaired. Unfortunately, design decisions that benefit the latter group tend create problems for the former. This is never more evident than in so-called “accessible” text only pages with their emphasis on high contrast and complete lack of images and colour.

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The VineType site is a nice simple web site that’s pleasing to the eye. The graders were especially impressed that it is a CMS site which actually holds up to some scrutiny in respect to its claim of “Content Management with Standards in Mind.” There are few CMSs that excel in this area. As much as there was to like, some things didn’t hold up well, most notably was the external-site contact form. Had it been included in the grading it would not have done so well. That aside, we were happy to see it do as well as it did.

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