The need for accessible websites is absolutely clear. An accessible website is better for all users, no matter what their capabilities. Accessible websites are easier to consume and navigate for all. Accessibility features directly aid in the consumption and understanding of the content.
Accessibility is a shared concern. All members of the client team (stakeholders and editors), designs, site builders and themers need to understand its importance, the principles and their application. Making accessibility a concern from the inception of the project will ensure the best chances of success as accessibility will be considered at each step of the process. Morpht offers accessibility training for those who are interested in investing in their skills.
- Stakeholders: Set the tone for the project and make accessibility a priority.
- Designers: Need to understand guidelines to design with accessibility in mind.
- Developers: Need to ensure their implementations are technically sound under the hood.
- Editors: Need to be aware of the content they are producing and refrain from adding presentational features which may negate the work done by the designers and developers.
At Morpht we share this holistic vision and encourage stakeholders to take this view as well.
Accessibility techniques
Needless to say, we take accessibility seriously at Morpht as many of our clients are Government agencies and have the highest of standards to obtain.
We have chosen to work with design systems that have been built with accessibility in mind. Both Bootstrap 5 and the Australian Government Design System start from an accessibility-first perspective, providing an excellent start on the front-end side of things. Drupal, as a CMS is also concerned with accessibility with the Accessibility Initiative ensuring Drupal remains a best-practice platform.
- Practically speaking there are many things we do to ensure quality:
- Review all designs and wireframes before the site build process.
- Build components that are accessible first and remediate any deficiencies we find in them.
- Continuously improve on our development practices and components.
- Review our sites with automated tools such as SiteImprove, Lighthouse and WAVE.
- Manually test our sites with the keyboard to test keyboard accessibility.
We are aiming for near-perfect scores using the automated tools and will work to ensure that any remediations are made where it is reasonable to do so. Furthermore, many of our sites have undergone intense accessibility audits, including sites that have been designed for those with disabilities.
