Client portfolio
Past and current accessibility and Web design projects.
DG Community
Task: Web accessibility audit, usability tests, with partners Headstar Ltd. Client: Dumfries and Galloway Council, UK. Period: October 2004 - November 2004. URL: www.dgcommunity.netDG Community is a portal launched by the Council in October 2004. It provides Council, Voluntary Sector, Health, Police and Fire Service information. From the outset the Site was designed to be accessible to those with disabilities — there is a text only option and the user can customise their home page.
An accessibility audit and usability tests were performed — these revealed a number of strengths and problems, which the design team are currently addressing.
TeacherNet
Task: Web accessibility audits, with partners Headstar Ltd. Client: Department for Education and Skills, London, UK. Period: October 2003 - February 2004. URL: www.teachernet.gov.ukTeachernet is a portal developed in conjunction with the UK Government which provides information and resources for teachers, school managers and teaching related subjects. In the past three years more than 30 DfES sites have been integrated into the TeacherNet portal in order to save on resources, and over the past two years the number of page impressions has risen from 2.3 million to nearly 20m.
Our client requested audits of the main TeacherNet site and the Publications and Teacher's Magazine sub-sites, against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 [WCAG1]. The assessments, and usability testing, highlighted strengths and many weaknesses in the sites. The reports went on to recommend prioritised actions to address specific Guidelines — issues have since been remedied by the TeacherNet team, and the portal goes from strength to strength.
E-accessibility
Task: Website re-design to accessibility standards. Client: Headstar Ltd., Brighton, East Sussex, UK. Period: August 2003 - July 2004. URL: headstar.com/eab
EAB
is the website for the E-access Bulletin, a free,
independent monthly e-mail newsletter on information technology issues for
people with visual impairment and blindness. The Bulletin is produced by
Headstar, with support from the
Royal National Institute for the Blind.
The website contains an archive of Bulletins from January 2000 to the present,
subscription information and links to international portals for the Bulletin.
The archive is generated from TEN Standard-compliant documents. The website meets level A-A of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, it uses alternative stylesheets and is navigable using only the keyboard. It utilises Perl scripts, and table-less XHTML 1.0, with CSS.
Marlbrook
Task: Website re-design to standards. Client: Marlbrook Limited, Droitwich, Worcestershire. Period: November 2002 - June 2004. URL: www.marlbrook.comMarlbrook provides motion capture and analysis services and consultancy to legal, medical and sports professionals. The website is generated using XSL Transformations. It is implemented in HTML 4.01, with layout-tables and CSS.
Midland Music Makers
Task: Website design, maintenance and content. Period: September 2002 - November 2004 & beyond. URL: midlandmusicmakers.orgMidland Music Makers performs Opera and other music in and around Birmingham. Members are professional, semi-professional and aspiring singers from the West Midlands, and they perform at the Crescent Theatre, Birmingham.
University of Birmingham Chamber Choir
Task: Website design, maintenance and some content. Member's mailing list. Period: September 1999 - October 2003. Basis: voluntary (long time member) URL: web.bham.ac.uk/ChamberChoirThe University Chamber Choir contains 20-30 members from throughout the University and Birmingham. They perform a wide variety of music, including liturgical pieces, at the University, churches and other venues in Edgbaston and Harborne. Originally implemented using HTML 3.2, it is gradually being redesigned using table-less XHTML 1.0 with CSS. Experimenting with a Rich Site Summary (RSS) feed.
Doreen Freear Solicitor
Task: Website design and maintenance. Period: April 1999 - October 2004 & beyond. URL: dfslaw.co.uk [old]Doreen Freear Solicitor is a small firm specialising in Family Law and conveyancing. This website was the first and originally used frames (HTML, no Standard), with 'noframes' text alternatives. It has been redesigned using table-less XHTML 1.0, with CSS.