Getting the business benefits

If a business provides goods, facilities and services to the general public and has not taken steps to make sure its website is accessible, it may be discriminating against people with a disability under the terms of Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).

Apart from the legal obligations, it makes good business sense to ensure websites are accessible to people with disabilities.  The Equality and Human Rights (formerly Disability Rights) Commission says that one in seven people in the UK has some form of disability.  According to the RNIB over 2 million people in the UK have a significant sight problem and ten percent of men have some form of colour blindness, affecting their ability to use websites effectively.  Many people experience some loss of sight and manual dexterity as they get older, and in the UK the number of affluent older people is increasing fast.  Together these groups could represent a lot of lost business opportunities.  In addition the adaptations required to make websites accessible also benefit people without disabilities.

This two day course will provide a thorough understanding of the issues facing disabled people when trying to use websites, demonstrate how to assess the accessibility of your own website using guidelines and checklists, describe how to involve disabled users in the design process, suggest the types of solutions that can be implemented to improve accessibility and provide tips on organising accessibility testing with disabled users.  It will provide plenty of opportunity for delegates to observe practical examples and work through a variety of different exercises to help facilitate learning. 

Who should attend?

This practical hands-on course is designed for people who want to know how to make websites accessible and for anyone who is involved in the design process.  This includes graphic designers, content writers, developers, coders, website managers, testers etc.

What skills and information will they learn?

On successful completion of this course, the participants will:

• Have a good understanding of the various challenges disabled people face when using websites
• Be familiar with the various assistive technologies disabled people use and have the opportunity to try them out
• Be familiar with the various accessibility guidelines and their sources
• Be able to decide which guidelines to apply to a website
• Understand how to use the accessibility guidelines to assess and design a website
• Know how to incorporate the needs of disabled users at any stage of the design process
• Understand the importance and principles of user testing.

Course content

This two day course provides delegates with plenty of practical examples and exercises, comprehensive notes, guidelines and sources of reference. 
The course can be tailored to meet the needs of your team and your organisation, but typical course content could include:

• Introduction to accessibility and the motivations behind it
• Introduction to disability including practical exercises
• Demonstration of assistive technologies and an opportunity to use them
• Demystifying the accessibility guidelines and knowing which ones to use and how and when to apply them
• Using accessibility checklists to assess a website
• Incorporating disabled users into the design process
• The importance and principles of user testing.

Course information and how to book

This two day course is offered in-house and course can be customised to include design processes, procedures and examples from your own business.  The maximum number of participants per course is 12 and prices start from £275+ VAT per head for 12 people.  Customisation costs £1,500 per course.

To book a course or to find out more, please call Leslie Fountain on +44 (0)20 7240 3388 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

What did previous participants think?

“Knowledgeable and friendly instructor - encouraged interactive mode of training. This course would be valuable in development/testing activities of my job.”

“Excellent hand out material allowed me to focus on what was being said rather than having to take copious notes.”

“Course presented well with good interaction and examples.”

“Excellent, well delivered, informative, would recommend it!”

For more information on any of our services, please contact us