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WUP takes QCA to the top of the class
The new website for the National Database of Accredited Qualifications might be a Land of Golden Opportunity for some, but is it a Land of Equal Opportunity for all?
The flagship database contains details of every qualification accredited by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and includes information about the new Diplomas which will be available to all 14 - 19 year olds from September 2008. These qualifications offer a truly innovative approach to learning, enabling students to gain knowledge, understanding and hands-on experience in such diverse areas as media, construction, and IT.
Naturally, such information should be available to everyone without exception; but imagine you are blind, or even partially sighted, dyslexic or disabled and can’t operate a computer mouse. The QCA wanted to make sure that their new website would be accessible to all without exception, so they called in the services of Web Usability Partnership.
“We chose WUP because of their specialist expertise and experience in website accessibility and usability. Also we were confident that they would be able to work effectively alongside our team to implement their recommendations against the tight time scale within which we would be operating,” says Alan Long, Head of web based accreditation, QCA Strategic Systems.
Based on W3C’s web content accessibility guidelines and their own extensive knowledge of how disabled users navigate websites, WUP were able to identify parts of the website which would be inaccessible to certain groups of users.
WUP then worked alongside the website designers at QCA to make practical improvements. This involved producing templates and coding advice to ensure that the site could be ‘read’ by the assistive technologies needed by some disabled users. Once these changes had been implemented the next stage was to invite a group of testers with a range of disabilities into WUP’s purpose-built usability studios in Wiltshire. The users were encouraged to explore the site, and were also asked to carry out some specific tasks.
‘I think it’s very good,’ said one blind tester who was assisted by a software programme which allowed him to ‘read’ the screen using synthesised speech. ‘From a navigational point of view I love the way it jumps straight to the page… I’ve seen an awful lot worse and I think it’s a very good effort.’
Despite a generally positive response, WUP were able to identify, through controlled testing with disabled users, additional factors which made it difficult for some of the disabled users to access the site fully. WUP then proposed further amendments to QCA based on these issues, and the site was modified accordingly.
As a consequence of the project, the database is now up and running, fit for purpose and compliant with the AA standard for website accessibility issued by W3C.