Maximizing Business Success Through Accessibility

By integrating accessibility into the design and development processes, businesses not only comply with legal standards but also gain these substantial benefits, contributing to overall success and sustainability:

• Enhanced User Experience and Satisfaction: Accessibility significantly improves the usability of websites and other digital interfaces. This enhancement makes it easier for all users, regardless of their abilities, to navigate and interact with the services offered, resulting in an improved user experience.
• Increased Market Reach: Accessible websites can serve a larger audience, including the significant portion of the population with disabilities. By catering to a broader audience, businesses can expand their market reach, attracting more users and potential customers.
• Improved SEO: Websites that follow accessibility guidelines often perform better in search engine rankings. Improved SEO performance leads to increased organic traffic, as search engines favor sites that provide a better user experience, which includes accessibility features.
• Reduced Legal Risks: Compliance with accessibility legislation and adhering to accessibility standards help mitigate the risk of legal issues. This can protect businesses from potential lawsuits and the associated costs, as well as from the resulting reputational damage.
• Positive Brand Image: A strong commitment to accessibility demonstrates social responsibility and inclusivity, which enhances the brand's reputation and fosters customer loyalty, as users appreciate businesses that prioritize accessibility and inclusiveness.

Integrating accessibility into digital business processes not only yields significant benefits but also ensures compliance with essential regulations like the European Accessibility Act.

Ensuring Compliance with the European Accessibility Act

Accessibility is essential for all businesses, especially those in sectors regulated by the European Accessibility Act. It mandates that businesses providing services or products directly to consumers (Business-to-Consumer or B2C) must make their websites, mobile applications, digital documents, authoring tools, and any related documentation and support services accessible. Banking services, passenger transport services, audio-visual media services and products, e-commerce companies, etc. must ensure that everyone can access and use their digital services and products effectively regardless of their abilities. E-commerce businesses have additional obligations, especially those related to transactions and security, like providing information about the accessibility features of the products they sell when such information is available from the product manufacturers.

The Act has standardized accessibility requirements across the European Union by adopting EN 301 549. This standard provides detailed technical specifications for making Information and Communication Technology (ICT) products and services accessible, ensuring uniformity and clarity in accessibility requirements across member states. The European Accessibility Act complies with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1 AA), developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). It also follows the principle of Universal Design, which advocates for the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.

Your Path to Accessibility

Prime Force is your trusted partner on the road to web accessibility, empowering you to create the best user experience for all your clients. Our accessibility experts can walk you through our four-phase program designed to ensure your digital offerings are accessible and user-friendly:

Discovery Phase:

In Phase I, we engage in detailed discussions to understand your specific needs and requirements. This includes identifying the necessary accessibility standards, such as WCAG, BITV 2.0, the European Accessibility Act, and ADA. We also outline the KPIs that will be used to measure progress in making your digital offerings accessible to all users. These KPIs may include WCAG Conformance Level, Automated Test Coverage, and Perceived Ease of Use.

Given the vastness of most websites, a comprehensive examination of every page would be inefficient. Therefore, a selection of representative pages, page statuses, and processes is made for evaluation. To ensure that the results are transferable and applicable to the entire website, together we identify the domains and subdomains to be audited, including specific pages, templates, languages, downloadable documents, media elements, embedded scripts, and email templates that need testing.

The first test involves using automated testing software and manually navigating the website with a screen reader and keyboard. This provides initial insights into the state of accessibility, highlighting issues related to automated testing, keyboard accessibility, and screen reader usage. It is important to note that not all issues may be discovered during this first evaluation. 

The discovery phase successfully defined the project's scope and key performance indicators (KPIs), documented in a clear and concise Excel file. These KPIs directly tie back to the results expected from the upcoming audit phase, ensuring alignment and a smooth transition between the two stages.

Audit Phase:

During the accessibility Audit, Prime Force experts help businesses identify accessibility issues on their products and services. They analyze your product according to the best practices and legislative requirements, including EN 301 549, BITV, WCAG, or other standards. Phase II includes limited audit, automated testing, manual testing, screen reader testing, cross-platform testing, and cross-country testing. 

The audit report will define the scope, covering aspects of the discovery phase. This report provides an overview of the methodology and techniques used for the evaluation, followed by the results and issues categorized by area. Each issue listed includes a detailed description, an explanation of best practices, screenshots if necessary, an estimation of the difficulty for the user, and an effort estimation to resolve the issue.

Following the report, the audit results are presented to stakeholders. This presentation reiterates the scope and addresses current legal requirements, which may change since the initial agreement. It summarizes the results, providing various statistics with grading and implications for users. The presentation also discusses potential impacts on UX and SEO, along with an estimation of the effort required to address the identified issues. Additionally, a project plan is outlined to achieve the KPIs.

Finally, a Q&A session is held after the reports have been delivered and reviewed by the customer. This session is designed to clarify any open points and answer questions, ensuring that all parties fully understand the findings and the steps needed to enhance accessibility.

Depending on the defined KPI, user testing can be included. Through the users’ direct feedback on what is working well and what is creating difficulties, you gain real-world insights into how your people interact with the product or service. These tests uncover unexpected barriers users might encounter, from navigation issues with screen readers to insufficient color contrast or unclear content. 

The findings are grouped by theme and prioritized by impact. They are then transferred into a ticketing system, such as Jira, along with suggestions on how to fix them. Prime Force then creates an accessibility statement for you that can be used on your website to showcase its accessibility. Depending on the legal requirements, it may also be necessary to test downloadable documents and communication channels such as emails.

Implementation Phase:

Our team of programming, UI/UX, content writing, and marketing experts can assist you in making the necessary changes. During Phase III, Prime Force experts implement the required accessibility remediations to ensure your product or service is accessible to all users. 

• Development Team. Our programming team implements the necessary changes into the code. They ensure your product's accessibility and functionality by utilizing linting tools, conducting code reviews for quality assurance, implementing accessibility standards, optimizing performance, enhancing security, ensuring responsive design, conducting thorough testing and debugging, maintaining comprehensive documentation, and setting up CI/CD pipelines for efficient deployment.
• Content Team. The content experts can assist you in writing captions for images, videos, and other media. 
• UX/UI Designers. Prime Force UX/UI specialists conduct user testing to observe and analyze user interactions, aiming to optimize conversions and other key metrics. 

Additionally, we offer prototyping, design system development, and comprehensive content writing services, including content analysis, audience-oriented content rewrites, and the creation of new content.

At the end of this phase, your digital product or service will be fully accessible. 

Re-Audit Phase

In Phase IV, Prime Force conducts a comprehensive re-audit to ensure that all previously identified accessibility issues have been effectively addressed. After an agreed-upon interval, we will retest your website to confirm that no new accessibility issues have arisen. This process involves a thorough review and testing of the implemented changes, verifying their effectiveness and compliance with accessibility standards. 

Additionally, we will update your accessibility statement with the new results, reflecting the current state of your website’s accessibility and demonstrating your ongoing commitment to providing an inclusive digital experience for all users.

Automated Observability

To maintain the quality and accessibility of your product, Prime Force offers automated observability solutions. We can continuously scan your website to monitor for potential accessibility issues, ensuring that any new problems are promptly identified and addressed. This automated scanning provides a proactive approach to accessibility maintenance, helping to uphold the high standards of your digital content. With automated observability, you can be confident that your website remains accessible and user-friendly, meeting the needs of all visitors while complying with relevant accessibility guidelines and regulations.

Accessibility Trainings

In addition to our core auditing and remediation services, we offer specialized training programs to empower your internal teams. These programs provide programmers, authors, and marketing personnel with a solid understanding of web accessibility best practices. By adopting this proactive approach, your team will be equipped to create and maintain accessible content from the outset, reducing the risk of future issues and ensuring your website remains inclusive for all users.

Support for Obtaining Official Certifications

For clients aiming for the highest level of validation, we offer optional support to secure official web accessibility certifications such as WCAG 2.1. Our team will guide you through the entire process, from understanding specific certification requirements to customizing your website to meet stringent criteria. We provide continuous support during the testing and verification stages, ensuring a seamless journey to achieving a recognized accessibility certification that highlights your commitment to digital inclusion.