Accessibility Terms

With the number of internet users growing day by day the Cnx Web Solutions team realise that there is a need for an accessability policy within the company. Using the latest standards for web content creation and our extensive knowledge of the internet as users, we can provide your company with a website that will appeal to as large an audience as possible.

What do we mean by accessibility?

Throughout the production process for a new website it is important to remember those internet users that may not be able to access your site through what we would consider normal means (e.g., Using computer workstation, monitor and keyboard/mouse etc.)

There are an increasing number of potential clients using other technologies to access the internet, you only have to look at the rapid development of the mobile phone and related technologies. Today, large numbers of users are relying more and more on these ultra portable devices.

In addition recent government initiatives, guidelines and laws have made it even more important to build websites that can be accessed by the less able bodied user. Advanced hardware and software such as Voice Command systems, Screen readers, Braille printers, etc., now mean that almost everyone can have some form of internet access.

The Cnx Web Solutions team is able to produce websites that can be displayed in a suitable way for almost any user. Scalable text, high contrast designs, simplified or multiple layouts and compact pages are just a few of the options available to you during the production process.

What are access keys?

Access keys are a method of navigating a website or webpage using the keyboard. Many of the latest browsers support the use of letters and numbers as keyboard shortcuts to links.

What do we mean by efficiency?

While the reduced costs and increased availability of high speed internet connections has made efficient web design seem less and less necessary it is important to remember that many internet users are still using older equipment and other low-bandwidth technologies to gain access to the web. Here at Cnx we always keep this in mind during the design process, reducing the amount of unecessary clutter while keeping the important elements of the page in as simple and effective a format as possible.

Studies of user attention span when surfing the internet have shown that the average user will wait just 8.5 seconds for a page to load. While it is not always possible to keep a web page below this threshold once all content has been included in a page we believe that the page should be layered in such a way as to provide the most important information first (usually text based) and allow other elements (e.g. graphics, flash, Java applets) to load in the background. This way, the users attention is kept through feedback and they are more willing to wait for the other elements to load.