MEDIA RELEASE
Vision 2020 Australia has set the bar for the eye health and vision care sector with the launch of its new website designed to meet the highest levels of accessibility for people with vision impairment.
The new website redesign which was launched this month has been developed to meet accessibility standards WCAG 2.0 AA, and in most cases, exceed them to meet an AAA rating.Vision 2020 Australia CEO Jennifer Gersbeck said Vision 2020 Australia had strived to create a website that was both visually appealing and which met the highest standards of accessibility.
“As the umbrella organisation for the eye health and vision care sector, we wanted to walk the talk when it comes to people with vision impairment being able to access information, while still catering for those who are not vision impaired,” Ms Gersbeck said.
“What we have managed to design is a site that doesn’t compromise accessibility or the impact of interesting design and multi-media functionality,” she said.
Ms Gersbeck said the commitment to high standards of accessibility would be challenging but regular reviews of material on the website would be conducted to ensure that Vision 2020 Australia maintained its strong rating.
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) set international accessibility guidelines for websites such as only using images for decorative purposes, and ensuring pages do not contain anything that flashes more than three times in any one-second period.
An accessibility section has also been developed for the site which enables users to choose from a selection of colour contrasts, and includes information on moving around the site, as well as advice on which keys to use for enhanced site navigation.
“We are also keen to receive feedback from users in relation to the accessibility functionality of the site,” Ms Gersbeck said.
Lisa Herrod from Scenario Seven was the accessibility consultant employed to advise on and assess the site. Lisa said the Vision 2020 Australia website is a great example of the high degree of accessibility that can be achieved through considered planning and design. It is truly a contemporary website that provides access to important information for a wide range of people, not just the blind and vision impaired.
The new site features a blog and Twitter feed that aims to provide new insight into the work being done in the eye health and vision care sector both in Australia and globally.
“We are keen to showcase the work of our members and will be encouraging the sector to provide video content, blog contributions and news to share,” Ms Gersbeck said.
The new look website is officially live.