Developing, Testing and analyzing an accessible website

Aim: To develop an accessible web portal for UE-Management.

Duration: 3 months (Summer 2007 | Dusseldorf, Germany)

Methods Used: Literature Survey, Persona Creation, User Interface, Information Architecture, System Analysis, Usability testing, Think Aloud Protocol, Interviews, Surveys, Usability Metrics, Prototyping, Wireframes, Card Sorting.

Project Brief: The aim was to develop an accessible website with three-fold specifications:

• Achievement of level double-A conformance to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 according to the WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) of the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)
• Valid HTML 4.0 Transitional according to W3C quality criteria
• Valid CSS Level 2 according to W3C quality criteria

Design and Methodology: After analyzing the presently available solution through various usability tests, we moved ahead with redefining of the Information Architecture. The website needed to be restructured in accordance with WCA guidelines.

It was important to understand various disabilities and their consequences. Our website needed to be free flowing i.e. could either be viewed on small screen devices like PDA’s, mobile etc. To solve this all dimensions were defined relative to each other i.e. in per cent format.

Snapshot of the existing website Considering all the aspects the website was redesigned and reconstructed. Presently the website has been launched as beta version and it will become primary hit by the end of this year.

Deliverables: An accessible website with AAA conformance, valid HTML 4.01 transitional and a valid CSS 2.0 was delivered.