Accessibility and You

When Happy Cog was founded in 1999, it was essentially on the principle that usable and accessible websites could be beautiful, too; that good contrast and semantic HTML, and predictable interaction patterns and structures, were not only responsible and ethical but liberated designers and users alike from reinvention and indecision. Answering this challenge is in our organizational DNA.

We’re firm believers in the importance of website accessibility. Our teams also strive to learn as much as possible from one another through regular formal and informal discussions, with the aim to keep the entire Happy Cog team up to speed on essential best practices and tools. During one of our recent “Enter the Matrix” present-and-learn sessions, two of our Developers presented a deck covering key aspects of website accessibility. In the video below, our team dives into accessibility basics, use cases, and tips for further learning. Please note that sections of this video have been omitted due to proprietary client information.

Our Commitment.

WCAG 2.0 is a stable, referenceable technical standard, comprised of twelve guidelines that are organized under four principles: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. For each guideline, there are testable success criteria, which are at three levels: WCAC 2.0 A, AA, and AAA. Depending on the details of the project and your intended audience, Happy Cog can commit to conforming to any of those levels and advise on which is the most appropriate.

In addition to WCAG 2.0, Happy Cog has extensive experience with a variety of accessibility standards, including Section 508 compliance. Depending on your desired level of compliance, at a minimum we would generally recommend a strategy to structure the visuals, content, and code/mark-up to best build an accessible website meeting WCAG 2.0 standards. Our coded templates can be compliant with all applicable rules and regulations of Section 508 of the Americans with Disabilities Act, reflect any specified format for accessibility by our client, and adhere to any other relevant criteria. We know this is complicated, so we often help our clients figure out what approach to take.

As part of this work, Happy Cog can commit to conforming to the Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA) 1.0 specification to allow assistive technologies to convey appropriate information to persons with disabilities. WAI-ARIA allows web pages (or portions of pages) to declare themselves as applications rather than as static documents, by adding role, property, and state information to dynamic web applications.

Let’s Connect.

Have questions about website accessibility or interested in working with us? Let’s talk about how we can make your website accessible to everyone.