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Jim Byrne Accessible Website Design Glasgow for The Third Sector, Voluntary, Charities and Not for Profits

Accessible, Responsive Website Design
Jim Byrne Web Designer

Accessibility consultancy – what is it and why do you need it?

Published: February 7, 2024

Ensuring that your online content is accessible isn’t merely a legal obligation—it’s a reflection of your dedication to inclusivity and your forward thinking. As an experienced accessibility consultant, I provide custom solutions to guide you through the intricacies of digital accessibility, offering everything from comprehensive audits to straightforward practical advice. In this short article, I explain what digital accessibility is, why you need it, and how to get started.

What is digital accessibility?

Digital accessibility is about crafting online spaces – and content delivered via computer interfaces – where everyone, regardless of their abilities can engage with the content. For example, for your website, it means ensuring every aspect is welcoming and accessible to visitors, whether they are using a screen reader, navigating with a keyboard, or facing other challenges.

The essence of digital accessibility—in the wider sense—means designing and developing digital content in a way that breaks down barriers and opens up avenues of access for everyone. This is done by ensuring the format of content is designed to be flexible, i.e., it can change to fit the needs of the individual, not the other way around. We don’t force the individual to change to fit with the way we present our content.

For example, when digital content is accessible, it will be possible for a blind person, using a screen reader, to have your content read out to them, including descriptions of any image or photographs on the page. And those descriptions will be equivalent to the function the image or photograph plays for sighted visitors.

When we talk about digital accessibility, we’re not just talking about ticking boxes or meeting legal requirements (although that’s important too!). We’re talking about fostering a digital world where everyone feels included, empowered, and able to fully participate in the online experience.

Accessibility – what’s in it for you?

First and foremost, there’s the matter of reputation. By prioritising digital accessibility, you’re not just showing the world that you care about inclusivity—you’re also demonstrating your commitment to excellence. You are telling your audience, your customers, your partners, and your competitors that you mean business when it comes to inclusion and equality.

Accessibility and the law

Then, there’s the matter of legal compliance. In many jurisdictions, digital accessibility isn’t just a suggestion—it’s the law. By ensuring your content meets accessibility standards, you’re not just avoiding potential legal headaches down the road—you’re also safeguarding your brand’s reputation and integrity. In the UK that means complying with The Equality Act 2010.

Accessibility pays

By reaching a wider audience, you’re opening up new revenue streams, tapping into markets you might have overlooked, and ultimately, boosting your bottom line. If you are a charity, a non-profit, or a public sector organisation you are getting your message out to more of your potential audience.

When you prioritise accessibility, you’re also opening the door to new ideas and possibilities. You are flexing your creative muscles, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, and ultimately, setting yourself apart from your competition.

So, in a nutshell, the advantages of digital accessibility for content producers are clear: enhanced reputation, legal compliance, increased audience and/or revenue opportunities, and a boost to innovation. It’s a win for you and for those who consume your content and services.

How do you ensure your content is accessible?

One of the first things you can do is to assess where you are right now, i.e., find out how accessible your current digital content is. A good way to do that is to commission an accessibility audit. For example, if you have a website and you want to know if it is accessible, an accessibility auditor can check it against the de facto standards that are used by governments across the world, i.e., the WCAG 2.1. (and WCAG 2.2 when it is adopted by governments).

Accessibility consultancy: take advantage of my decades of expertise and experience

WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. These are the guidelines published by the W3C. You will be reassured to know, that I provided feedback on version two of the guidelines, in my previous role as Director of the Guide of Accessible Website Designers. I have detailed knowledge that I can put to good use when assessing the accessibility of websites and other digital content, including PDFs and MS Word documents, videos, and dynamic content. I have been working in the area of accessible website design since 1996, written multiple books on the subject, creating training courses (check out my bestselling WCAG 2 Accessibility online course) and given advice to 100s of organisations. I’ve also got over 20 years experience of building websites – so I understand the problems you meet and need to solve.

A Website Accessibility Audit example: what does a website access audit consist of?

A WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility audit

I WCAG 2.2 audit of your website tests it against 56 WCAG A & AA checkpoints on a variety of different platforms (including mobile and tablet), using a variety of accessibility tools (e.g., screen reader, keyboard, magnifier, colour contrast changers) and different browsers. Both automated and manual testing are used as part of the audit.

My website audits include feedback from disabled people

When I carry out an accessibility audit I ask two of my disabled colleagues will give feedback on the accessibility of your website. John Turley is blind and uses a screen reader on both his mobile phone and laptop; Ruby Shah has a visual impairment and uses a variety of accessibility tools including a screen magnifier and contrast changer. They will also test the site to ensure that it is keyboard-only accessible.

You get a detailed report including:

  • An executive summary, highlighting the most important issue to fix.
  • A table showing the percentages of checkpoints that have passed failed, or are not applicable (N/A).
  • A list of all relevant checkpoints with notes relating to any issues found and suggested fixes.
  • A full checkpoint summary table showing whether each has passed, failed, or is N/A
  • The full unedited notes from my disabled colleagues. I provide unedited notes because they will give you a good sense of how a disabled person interacts with your website content. Relevant parts of these notes are also incorporated into the checkpoint notes.

The length of the report can vary depending on the size of the website, the amount of issues found, and their complexity.

An accessibility consultancy service designed to help you

An accessibility audit is your first step to ensuring you are complying with relevant equality laws and reach more poeple with your content and your message.

“We requested a root-and-branch evaluation of our website to help inform its development, and in a short space of time Jim and his fantastic team put together an incredibly comprehensive report that fulfilled every aspect of our brief. He was able to identify specific instances of non-compliance, as well as highlight recurring themes and issues and make recommendations to ensure that our web presence not only complies with WCAG AA standards but is fully optimised for usability. Moreover, the first-hand feedback from his auditors provided invaluable insight into the UX of users with disabilities. I’d be delighted to recommend Jim and his colleagues to anyone looking to make their web presence accessible to the widest possible audience.”

Alex Norton (Communications Manager, CLOSER)

Contact me today to discuss your accessibility needs. I provide accessibility advice and support as well as practical services such as website and document accessibility auditing.

Jim Byrne Accessible Website Design is celebrating 20 years ensuring equal access for disabled people

Published: April 12, 2023

This year is the 20th birthday of my business, Jim Byrne Accessible Website Design.

Here is the press release I put together with Rebecca Appleton of Dakota Digital. Forgive my hyperbole – but 20 years of helping to ensure equal access for disabled people to digital content is definitely worth celebrating.

Multi Award-Winning Accessible Website Design Business Celebrates 20th Years At The Top

Jim Byrne, a pioneer of equal access to websites and digital content for disabled people, is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his Accessible Website Design & Accessibility Auditing business – and remains as passionate about his mission today as he was on day one.

Jim first realised the importance of digital access for disabled people in the 90s, and that realisation forever changed his career path. In 1996 he founded one of the UK’s first web accessibility consultancies and was a founding member of the Guild of Accessible Web Designers (GAWDS). As the director of GAWDS, he gave feedback on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2) which are now used by governments around the world.

“Equal access to websites and digital content for everyone is still my focus,” Jim says. “Lack of accessibility is a form of discrimination against disabled people. It was unacceptable back when I started and, with so many services and resources almost exclusively available online, it is unacceptable now.”

The importance of digital accessibility has grown since Jim Byrne began his work and UK law has changed to reflect this. Under the Equality Act of 2010, website owners are obliged to ensure that their websites are accessible to all users. To help with this, Jim’s business offers a WCAG 2 accessibility auditing service to check whether websites comply with the law. Additionally, he offers an accessible website design service and accessibility training for website designers.

Ralph Mackenzie, Front-End Website Designer/Developer for the University of Strathclyde, said, “Jim provided us with auditing and training services to help the University’s websites and applications meet new government regulations on digital accessibility. His reports were extremely thorough and have provided an excellent basis for the University to offer better services to students, staff and the public.
“The training offered gave our staff an excellent insight into designing and developing for users with special requirements, and we look forward to providing an accessible digital experience to all users thanks to Jim’s help and expertise.”

Through its two decades of activity, Jim Byrne Accessible Website Design & Accessibility Auditing has received several awards – including the Global Bangemann Award, presented by the King of Sweden himself.

Get in touch if you want to chat: 07810 098 119 webdesign@jimbyrne.co.uk. 🙂
Jim

#websitedevelopment #websitedesign #accessibility #accessibilityforall #accessibledesign #auditing #wcag #disabilityinclusion

All Accessibility Blog Posts

Published: April 8, 2022

What Can I Do For You? Outlining My Approach to Web Design

Published: September 18, 2017

The following is a text transcript of a video presentation I made in 2017:

“So how can I help you? Now I’m a web designer, web developer, web accessibility specialist mostly working in the third sector.

But I don’t really think of myself as just a web designer. I have a wider view of what my job is. My job is to help your organisation achieve your aims, through your website.

The website you have should not be, it should be a pretty picture but it should not just be a pretty picture. It’s a tool – depending on what type of organisation you are – it’s a tool for your marketing or it’s a tool for you to deliver your services, it’s a tool to provide training, it’s a tool to communicate your message – whatever it is. And you have got some kind of audience that you are try to deliver that service to.

So before I would start any kind of design I would make sure that we discuss all of these kind of things: what your aims are as an organisation, who is your target audience (or target audiences), can you rank those audiences, what are the most important audiences that you are probably funded to serve or service? And looking at those different audiences – what are they after, why would they turn up at your site? What service are you are marketing to them – what are you are trying to do for them, what is the most important thing?

And what is the most important thing they are after? When they arrive at your site. So if we know all these things and you have said: the target audience is this, the most important thing they are thinking about is this and when they arrive at my website they probably want to look for… whatever.

Knowing that of course, knowing all that, impacts the visual design of your site knowing all that, impacts how you organise your content. It’s obviously not going to be any good if your main, if an individual, from your target audience, turns up at your site and the most important thing they are there for is buried somewhere five levels deep and it takes them half an hour to find it.

They have got to instinctively think: I can see they have thought about me. I can see that they are delivering something very quickly in a way that I don’t even have to think about it – because they have already thought about what I’m after.

And doing all of that you putting less stress on the visitor, your credibility as an organisation goes up many notches, because it’s clear that you have thought about your target audience and you are doing a good job as an organisation.

I’m not saying that how your website looks is not important. Of course that’s incredibly important because again your credibility relies on having a professional great looking site.

That’s actually one of the things that a lot of organisations fall down on. They think that maybe: they are small organisation and they’ve not got much of a budget they could maybe just employ a student to build the website or they could even just get somebody in-house to download a WordPress theme – something they particularly like the look of – install that and that’s the organisation website.

It’s a false economy. Not just a false economy, it damages you as an organisation. People might not be tremendously sophisticated when it comes to web design – but they know instinctively when they look at your site – whether you are taking the whole – delivery of your content or your message on the web – seriously or not.

They know there is something quite right- it’s not quite branded like the rest of the your organisation – the content’s not well organised. They don’t know exactly what’s wrong with it but they know it’s not quite right. And that is damaging you as an organisation.

They are less likely to come back and your credibility is going down the pan. So it’s a false economy. It’s got to look professional it ‘s got to look well designed, it’s to got be well organised it’s got to reflect your branding as an organisation. And it’s got to absolutely meet the needs of your audience.

Ok so, to reiterate your earlier question. what can I do for you. Well I can do all the usual web plumber stuff obviously – which is a beautiful website that is responsive, completely accessible and has all the features that you require. All the back-end development all the content management etc. I can make sure it’s absolutely beautiful because I do believe that’s important. So I will use my colleague Amanda Taylor – who is a graphic designer – she will do the visual design and I will do all the technical aspects. And I will do all of the stuff I was talking about earlier on. To absolutely ensure the focus, which is your aims as an organisations and your aims to meet the needs of your audience.

So if want somebody who is thinking of you first. And is thinking in this wider context, give me a shout.

Actually I forgot to say – just in terms of my credibility – I’ve been doing it for a long time and in that long time we have won a number of awards. Probably the most notable was: the Global Bangemann Challenge which I won – along with my – well for the Making Connections Unit – I won that along with my partner of the time Glasgow City Council. So we went over to Sweden – got that award off the king of Sweden. Won a number of other awards as well but I thought I’d just mention that.”

Web Accessibility Tip: Design For Machines First, People Second!

Published: August 8, 2014

You can’t transmit a website directly into a person’s brain! That’s as silly a statement as I’ve ever heard; however, when you think about it, every web page must first pass through some type of hardware and software (e.g. a computer and a web browser) before you can access its content.

That being the case, the best chance you have of your web page being accessible to this ‘intermediate layer’ is to create your pages using standards based markup.

Visitors won’t be able to access your content if your pages don’t work on the particular browser they are using – be it a refreshable braille reader, WebTV, or the latest PC still running the buggy Internet Explorer 6. The secret to success is to ‘code to standards’.

If you code to standards (e.g. HTML 4.01 or XHTML 1, HTML 5) you have the best chance of your web page working on the ‘dumb’ machines that know nothing other than ‘how to follow the rules’ to render the structure of a page to an output device. If you also follow the rules, you are already well down the road towards an accessible website.

Links

Why choose Jim Byrne Accessible Web Design Glasgow?

Published: June 12, 2013

Web Design Glasgow by Jim Byrne

Research by the Disability Rights Association found that 91% of website developers do not claim to have any real understanding of Web accessibility issues. We are different. We have:

  • Experience: Jim Byrne has been learning about accessible website design since 1996. He gave feedback on the WCAG 2 guidelines (as part of Guild of Accessible Website Designers), has provided consultancy to the European Union, national and local Government, corporates and the not-for-profit sector.
  • Un-rivalled technical know-how.
  • Enthusiasm for creating  beautiful easy to use accessible websites.
  • Jim Byrne is a member of the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP).

Web Design Glasgow – Award-winning experience

  • The Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living (LCL) website – designed by Jim Byrne – won the Breakthrough Award for their website and online help service.
  • The Making Connections Unit which was developed by Jim Byrne and David Donald won an award in the equal access category of the Global Bangemann Award; a challenge by the City of Stockholm for cities of the world to show their finest information technology projects. The award was presented by the King of Sweden.
  • Jim Byrne was identified as one of Scotland’s ‘movers and shakers in e-commerce in Scotland’ for work in the area of Web accessibility (NB Magazine, 2001).

Two decades of accessible website design experience sets us apart from the crowd.

When it comes to choosing a web services company you need a partner you can rely on – a partner with the experience and skills to add value to your business or service. Our aim is to be that business partner – the one you will want to continue to work with in the future.

And because all our business comes from recommendations from existing customers, we can’t afford not to do our best on every job.

“One of Jim’s great strengths is in finding out what clients really need and throughout the process testing those aspirations with practical examples.” Clare MacGillivray, Development Coordinator Edinburgh Tenants Federation

Contact us today to discuss your project.

Or phone to talk over your ideas: 07810 098 119.

Accessibility Auditing Against WCAG 2.1 & WCAG 2.2 – And Website Design UK, Scotland, Glasgow

Published:

Jim Byrne is a specialist in accessible website design, training and accessibility auditing for the not-for-profit, education, public and third sector. An award-winning website developer, website accessibility training provider and WCAG 2 expert.

Working with non-profits, charities, voluntary and public sector organisations and social enterprises for over 20 years. Jim set up one of the worlds first website accessibility web agencies in the mid 1990s. Get in touch today to take advantage of unrivalled experience and skills in the area of accessible website design and WCAG 2 auditing. A website designer based in Glasgow but with clients all over the UK.

Jim Byrne Accessible Website Design – A winner of many national and international awards including:

Winner – Best Charitable Website Design Specialist 2019

SME Award: Best Charitable Website Design Specialist 2019 - Scottish Enterprise Awards

Accessible website design awards

  • Best Accessible Web Design Company in the UK Research and Development Awards 2023!
  • Best Web Design Agency, Scottish Lowlands, Corporate Vision MarTech Awards 2022.
  • Winner of ‘Best Charitable Website Design Specialist 2019’.
  • Winner of the Global Bangemann Award in 1999
  • Breakthrough Award for The Lothian Centre For Independent Living online help service.

Want to discuss your website design, access audit or accessibility training project? Get in touch ››

Strathclyde University

Jim provided us with auditing and training services to help the University’s websites and applications meet new government regulations on digital accessibility. His reports were extremely thorough, and have provided an excellent basis for the University to offer better services to students, staff and the public. The training offered gave our staff an excellent insight into designing and developing for users with special requirements, and we look forward to providing an accessible digital experience to all users thanks to Jim’s help and expertise.
Ralph Mackenzie, Front-End Website Designer/Developer, University of Strathclyde

Website Accessibility Auditing – WCAG 2.1 and WCAG 2.2 Checks

A website access audit checks that your website is accessible to disabled people (a legal requirement outlined in the Equality Act 2010). Our website auditors are the most experienced and skilled in the UK; we will check your site against the WCAG 2.0 guidelines and check that your site is compliant with the BS8878 Web Accessibility Code of Practice. Our audits go way beyond tick box checks; they check that your site is accessible and will be usable to the real people who visit your site.

Document accessibility compliance (PDF, Doc) It is also a legal requirement that the Word and PDF documents you provide via your website are accessible. Contact us today to take advantage of our unique expertise in this area.

Accessibility statements – do you need to have one on your website?

Accessible Website Design Training

Contact me and ask about my in-house and online accessible web design training.

This training is suitable for people who work in the public sector or private sector, e.g., Local councils, education, voluntary sector organisations, charities and corporates. If you would like to create standards-compliant accessible web pages this is the course for you.

Learn to design and manage WCAG compliant, accessible websites with my online course

You will learn both the techniques of accessible website design and an entire ‘framework for thinking about the subject’. It will equip you with the skills to understand, identify and fix issues any accessibility issues you come across. Watch the free videos to get a taste of what is on the course.

Video image from Web Accessibility Online Training Course - WCAG 2.1 Compliance

About Jim Byrne Accessible Website Design Specialist

Published: June 10, 2013

Jim Byrne Accessible Website Design Specialist

  • Founder of The Making Connections Unit in 1996: one of the UK’s first web accessibility consultancies.
  • An award winning web designer. Best Web Design Agency, Scottish Lowlands, Corporate Vision MarTech Awards 2022. Winner of ‘Best Charitable Website Design Specialist 2019’. Winner of the Global Bangemann Award in 1999 and the Breakthrough Award for The Lothian Centre For Independent Living online help service.
  • An experienced web designer and web applications developer. In addition to many website designs, development projects completed have included a virtual learning environments (VLE’s) for Scottish Accessible Information Forum and an online Portfolio system for The Get Connected Project. Jim has developed online searchable directories for Evenbreak and The British Disabled Angling Association, online membership services and e-commerce systems for numerous organisations.
  • Author of 6 website development books and numerous online and offline training courses.
  • A member of the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP).
  • A founding member of the Guild of Accessible Web Designers (GAWDS): a world-wide association of organisations and accessible web designers and developers set up in 2003.
  • Founder of ‘Accessible Website Design’ in 2003 to exclusively provide accessible website design and development to the third Sector.
  • Contact Jim Byrne
  • Tel: 07810 098119

Developing a passion for accessible website design

Jim started his working life as a computer programmer in 1979 using ‘miniframe’ computers that had LP (long player record) sized ‘not very floppy disks’. The disks needed to be screwed into a large cabinet that looks like a top-loading washing machine.

He is one of the few people who has been around long enough to have done every task related to web design: installed, configured and managed operating systems (Linux, Apple and Windows), installed a web server and all the required software, (e.g. Apache, Perl, PHP), wrote the required ‘cgi’ scripts, designed the web pages, hand coded the HTML and designed and coded one of the world’s first content management systems.

In 1990 as a ‘mature’ student at Glasgow Caledonian University he was shown Tim Berners Lee’s first website by lecturers David Donald and John Culbert; it didn’t look like much (just text with links) but it did look like the future. He also embarrassed himself by being tongue tied when he met Tim Berners Lee at a conference in London after shouting him over with the words, ‘Hey Tim!’.

Jim is also an experienced trainer and a former Lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University. In the mid 90’s he worked as a Trainer with The Wellbeing Initiative; an organisation set up to help disabled people get back into work. While working with The Wellbeing Initiative Jim became acutely aware of the extent to which disabled people were being discriminated against. This had an impact on the work he has done since. It directly lead to the setting up of one of the UK’s first website accessibility consultants and the setting up of The Guild of Accessible Website Designers.

A Web Developer With an Artistic Sensibility

Apart from technical skills he has an artistic sensibility. In his spare time he is a musician, songwriter and performer. He attended Glasgow School of Art as a teenager so he brings creativity and sense of aesthetics to every project.

Publications

Awards

SME Award for Jim Byrne Accessible Website Design

  • Best Web Design Agency, Scottish Lowlands, Corporate Vision MarTech Awards 2022.
  • Winner Scottish Enterprise Best Charitable Design Specialist 2019. The award aim to showcase and reward the hardworking individuals and firms in Scotland.
  • Identified as one of Scotland’s ‘movers and shakers in e-commerce in Scotland’ for work in the area of Web accessibility (NB Magazine, 2001).
  • Developer of the award winning not-for-profit project, The Making Connections Unit (MCU). The MCU won an award in the equal access category of the Global Bangemann Award; a challenge by the City of Stockholm for cities of the world to show their finest information technology projects.The award was presented by the King of Sweden.

Music and song

  • In his ‘spare time’ he is a songwriter and musician playing folk, country and blues influenced acoustic music. He has co-written songs with Marti Pellow (he co-wrote ‘Lay With Me’ on the Boulevard of Life album) and Jazz singer Carol Kidd and has released three solo albums. A song from his second album was number 1 on the UK Reverbnation Americana Chart. His songs are played regularly on radio and one was added by Mark Lamarr to ‘God’s Jukebox’ on Radio 2.

Contact us today. We are hugely experienced award winning web designers and developers. Please read what our clients are saying about how we helped them meet their aims.

Or phone to talk over your ideas: 07810 098 119.

Publications by Jim Byrne

Photo: Twitter for Voluntary, Charities and non-profits.Twitter for charities, non profits and the voluntary sector.

Making Website Accessible published by SAIF

60 Accessible Web Design tips

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Alternative access to client feedback

“The audit was extremely comprehensive, clear and demonstrated Jim’s expertise in the area of accessible web design.” Peter Madden, Project Manager, Sealed Envelope Ltd