Here at Accessibility Nottingham, we bring together leading professionals and inspirational speakers to provide an event that aims to encourage accessibility within the digital world. Our events run once a month.
Accessibility Nottingham was founded by HeX Productions, a team of web developers who believe the online world should be available to everyone. With years of experience, we want our events to inspire, and provide you with a toolkit so you can make positive change for yourself.
Having already hosted a range of meetups, including talks from Shaw Trust accessibility services and BBC cape, we are excited at the thought of hosting events in the future and raising more awareness.
Whether you know a lot about accessibility, or this is new to you; our events are for everyone. We guide you through how online inclusivity can change someone’s life and how you can do your part in supporting the transition.
We also enjoy offering free food and drink, having a chat, and getting to know you a bit more.
Why Care?
In the UK, 1 in 5 people have a disability. Statistically, either you or someone you know has experienced a disability at some point in their life. And yet, in 2016, it was predicted seventy percent of websites are breaking the law on Accessibility.
In an ever-changing digital age, there is a need for online inclusivity, as presented by the usage of assistive technologies. From 2009 to 2014, screen reader usage increased from 12% to 82%.
Inaccessible websites prevent disabled users from living their day to day lives. Often creating difficulty when performing basic tasks, such as understanding information on websites, or filling out online forms. These can be overcome; making a website accessible ensures disabled users can access a site with ease.
On top of this, being accessible also brings benefits for you. Rather than excluding one-fifth of your audience, your site will be readily accessible to more people. This will lead to higher engagement and number of sales; not to mention the SEO benefits that come with being accessible.
Some laws on accessibility
- Under UK legislation, all websites must be accessible. Failure to be is a breach of the 2010 Equality Act.
- The enforcement of this is presented through the fact that by 2020, all Public Sector websites must adhere to the Website Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). We anticipate it won’t be long until Private Sector websites will also be required too.
- Public Sector mobile applications must be accessible by June 2021.
- Websites and services that are used or embedded in U.S Government websites, are lawfully required to be accessible under Section 508 of the United States Workforce Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Developers using automated tools often believe their sites are accessible, even when this is not the case. GOV UK found that automated checkers often fail to pick up issues.