Nomensa Zoom in on Accessible Web Design

Nomensa will present at RNIB Techshare Conference

4th November 2005

Simon Norris, Léonie Watson, Alastair Campbell and Alex Metcalf will be presenting at the

RNIB Techshare Conference

(http://www.rnib.org.uk), held from 16th-18th November at Jury’s Hotel in Birmingham. The Nomensa team will be sharing research and insight into web accessibility and usability, and how their Human Centred Design approach can create an engaging user experience for everyone.

Léonie Watson (Head of Accessibility), Simon Norris (Managing Director) and  Alastair Campbell (Director of Research and Technology) take up the challenge issued by Joe Clark at the 2005 @ Media conference with their presentation Putting users in the driving seat of web design (Zoom, zoom).

Clarke outlined an approach to developing web sites with a style of presentation suited to low vision users. By extension he suggested that the user should be in control of the style selection.

Focusing on presentational styles for people with varying degrees of visual impairment (for the purposes of this paper), Nomensa developed a system that allows the user to choose how a website appears, with the aim of tailoring the user’s experience to their needs. Nomensa have tested the system with a number of visually impaired and fully sighted users, findings of which will be discussed at the conference.

Alex Metcalf (Senior Usability Analyst), with his presentation Website accessibility and usability: moving beyond checkpoints will be discussing the striking overlap between accessibility and usability, and how ‘accessibility’ starts to become a measure of how easy a site is to learn and use. Website accessibility is often assessed in a quick, automated fashion against an accepted set of checkpoints. But, automated tests fail to tell the whole story and this is the point where checkpoints must be considered for their impact on user experience. Methods will be proposed for improving a site’s accessibility in a holistic way, to help deliver an excellent experience for all users – surely the aim of any modern web site.

"Nomensa understand that the web is different things to different people, so we wanted to explore the ways in which content could be delivered to suit different tastes and needs, ultimately creating an inclusive experience," commented Leonie Watson, Head of Accessibility, Nomensa.

Notes

2005 @Media Conference

Held on 9th and 10th June 2005, the @media 2005 conference brought together the biggest names from around the world to talk about the hottest topics in web design - web standards and accessibility.

RNIB Techshare Conference

Techshare highlights the role of technology in the everyday life of people with sight problems. This annual conference is aimed at professionals who work in the field of sight loss or have an interest in technology. Packed with presentations and workshops, Techshare is a fantastic opportunity to meet with experts and other professionals in your field.

For more information please contact Nomensa.

About Nomensa

Established in 2001, Nomensa is the digital agency which specialises in perfecting online user experience.  It combines usability, accessibility and strong web development skills to help public and private sector clients develop online strategies, be more inclusive and accountable.

Nomensa has a research based methodology that put people at the centre of its activities.  Everything it does focuses on understanding the experience people have when using technology.

Nomensa works with FTSE 250 companies, Central Government Departments, Local Authorities and Councils, and leading Universities, as well as several other organisations in the finance, IT and charity sectors.