|
Harvard has been appointed by Webcredible, one of the fastest growing usability and accessibility consultancies, to raise awareness of the benefits and legal obligations associated with good website design.
“It’s an area of growing importance”, says Harvard senior consultant, Charlotte Hanson, “not least with the advent of Web 2.0 which is seeing a rapid rise in new companies and communities which aren’t investing sufficient time and money in good web design.”
One particular aspect which is often overlooked is the Disability Discrimination Act which makes it illegal to exclude people from websites – this includes people with visual impairments through to basic learning difficulties such as dyslexia and physical difficulties etc.
“So far there have been no prosecutions in the UK”, says Hanson, “but there have in America and Australia. It’s surely only a matter of time before it happens over here if people don’t pay due attention to the accessibility of their websites.”
On this subject, Harvard will be championing the issue of “online social responsibility”, and taking this message out to companies at board level as well as marketing and e-commerce directors; web designers and developers will also be targeted.
Aside from accessibility, Harvard will raise awareness of the psychology of how people use websites, highlighting the areas of good navigation as well as problems associated with bad design which can hinder a websites performance. Quite simply, by making a website more usable, companies can increase traffic, sales and search engine rankings.
About Webcredible
Founded in 2003, Webcredible is one of the fastest growing usability and accessibility consultancies, dedicated to making websites easy to use, accessible to all and ultimately more effective. The UK-based consultancy has a long list of global clients in the private and public sector including T-Mobile, Norwich Union, Powergen, the BBC and the World Health Organisation.
top
|
