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September 2, 2010
Test the Product Design using POUR Accessibility Design Review
Filed under: Accessibility, Accessibility Testing — Priti Rohra @ 3:13 pmDesign defines the architecture of any product. It is at the design stage, where key user interaction, content display and layout of the content as whole is decided. All the decisions at the design stage are taken by keeping the “Target Audience” i.e. “Users” at the forefront.
Users of a product can include people of different age groups, geographical locations, diverse culture, speaking different languages and even people with range of abilities or disabilities as commonly referred to. Key to effective product design is ability to cater to needs of variety of users.
Often people with disabilities as a group are overlooked considering them as a bare minority when it comes to outlining the product design. Aren’t they part of the target audience that your product aims to cater to?
Following are some interesting facts of a study commissioned by Microsoft Corporation and conducted by Forester Research that reveals the number of adult computer users with disabilities in the United States (US):
- 1 out of every 4 people has visual impairment
- 1 out of every 4 people has mobility impairment
- 1 out of every 5 people has hearing impairment
Source: http://www.microsoft.com/enable/research/
“As per the World Health Organization (WHO), 10 per cent of the world population or 650 million people are disabled!”
Source: http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/facts.shtml
In today’s competitive era, no product can afford to miss out on such a huge number of potential users. Isn’t it?
Product designers, UI designers, Product managers, and Marketing managers must aim to cater to the needs of people with disabilities along with other user groups while outlining product design.
For instance, it is at the design stage one decides if they want to opt to use a menu for displaying website’s navigation options. However, which type of menu will be accessible for people with disabilities using different assistive technologies or input devices is a point of consideration.
Similarly is the colour contrast between the foreground text and background sufficient to meet the needs of users with different types of colour blindness?
How can we help?
BarrierBreak’s POUR Accessibility Design Review helps to analyze the product design by keeping different Accessibility standards and guidelines, such as WCAG 2.0 & Section 508 in mind.
With years of expertise in Accessibility testing and in-depth knowledge about the functioning of different Assistive Technologies (AT), by reviewing the product design our team will help to evaluate how different AT’s will interact with the product.
In addition, our Accessibility experts will provide you with practical recommendations that will help eliminate potential access barriers in the design which might restrict one or multiple user groups from accessing the product.
On the basis of the design review, our team can help you draw the road map for implementing Accessibility throughout the PDLC, avoid product retrofitting cost, comply with the Accessibility guidelines and standards and increase your customer base.
No CommentsJuly 22, 2009
HiSoftware and BarrierBreak Technologies Forge Strategic Partnership
Filed under: Accessibility Testing, News — Shilpi Kapoor @ 12:50 pm
Leading accessibility providers partner to offer end-to-end software and testing solutions throughout India
Nashua, NH, USA and Mumbai, India — July 21, 2009 — HiSoftware (www.hisoftware.com), a leading provider of software, services and managed operation solutions that monitor and optimize Web content, quality and regulatory compliance, and BarrierBreak Technologies (BarrierBreak) (http://www.barrierbreak.com), today announced a strategic partnership. As partners, the companies will be able to offer customers in India the robust combination of HiSoftware’s automated accessibility monitoring solution HiSoftware Compliance Sheriff™ and BarrierBreak’s range of accessibility training, testing and consulting services.
Shilpi Kapoor, BarrierBreak Technologies CEO, said, “India is a software development hub making it extremely important to address the needs of persons with disabilities and ensure adherence to accessibility standards and guidelines. BarrierBreak Technologies has been offering accessibility testing services for WCAG and Section 508. We have a team of testers that conduct manual and automated accessibility testing using assistive technology and accessibility tools. HiSoftware products will allow us to provide a valuable service offering to our clients that would include ongoing and periodic monitoring of their websites against accessibility standards and guidelines. We will also work with HiSoftware to ensure adherence to the Guidelines for Indian Government Websites (http://web.guidelines.gov.in) which includes accessibility requirements.”
As a HiSoftware value-added solution partner, BarrierBreak will now resell HiSoftware’s accessibility and content compliance solution HiSoftware Compliance Sheriff™, in addition to their existing accessibility testing and consulting services offering. HiSoftware Compliance Sheriff provides organizations with an easy way to successfully develop and maintain best-of-breed web sites that promote the highest standards in Web governance, supporting a high quality user experience. It enables organizations to easily validate their website and applications content against standards-based and custom organizational policies for accessibility and privacy compliance. Compliance Sheriff allows organizations to integrate a comprehensive and automated solution for managing Web Governance standards as part their best practices.
Kurt A. Mueffelmann, HiSoftware president and CEO, states, “We are pleased to forge a key relationship with BarrierBreak, making our accessibility solutions readily available throughout India. By providing customers with HiSoftware’s leading automated accessibility solutions and their manual testing services, BarrierBreak can provide their customer with an end-to-end accessibility solution.”
About HiSoftware Inc.
Founded in 1998, HiSoftware Inc. (www.hisoftware.com) is a leading provider of software, services and On-demand solutions that test, repair, monitor and enforce Web content, quality and regulatory compliance. The company’s solutions empower content developers, Web site architects and executives to work collaboratively to create and manage corporate Web standards for accessibility, privacy, security, search engine optimization (SEO), site quality and performance, branding and application transaction testing.
About BarrierBreak Technologies (http://www.barrierbreak.com):
BarrierBreak Technologies is an innovative firm that provides solutions in the field of Accessibility for People with Disabilities based in India. BarrierBreak works with goverments, corporates, and institutions to provide accessibility training, accessibility testing and accessibility consulting services that would empower people with disabilities to avoid discrimination and enjoy equal rights and opportunities. BarrierBreak specializes in Accessibility testing and has been providing services to India, UK, Australia and the US.
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