Sight Support Derbyshire has relaunched its accessible website with the help of Derby company 22Create.
The local charity, which provides services for blind and partially-sighted adults and children, needed to make its website adaptable for tablet and mobile phone screens. But it also needed to be accessible for visually impaired people.
The new website has been funded by the National Lottery Community Fund.
Sight Support Derbyshire’s Chief Executive, Claire Winfield, said: “We wanted the website to be tried and tested before it went live, so we asked for input from some of our visually impaired members who are interested in using technology.
“22Create were keen to expand their knowledge of accessibility, and were very understanding of our situation as a small charity. Websites are a necessary part of the day to day running of any organisation now, but it’s difficult for a small charity like ourselves to fund this kind of project so we were very grateful to the National Lottery Community Fund.”
Danielle West from 22Create said: “It’s been a pleasure to work with Sight Support Derbyshire on their new website. Implementing features such as the option to change text sizes and colour schemes, to ensure the site is as accessible as possible for visually impaired people, was a great experience for us and has allowed us to understand the considerations that go into building a resource like this one.
“It has developed our understanding of Sight Support Derbyshire’s work, and also added to our skills when it comes to designing and building websites – something we will be able to take forward into all our future projects.”
Alyson Koe from Sight Support Derbyshire, who worked with 22Create and the members, added: “Our ideas about how our website should look were very much influenced by initial discussions with our panel of visually impaired internet users. We wanted to know which websites worked for them, and which ones were difficult to navigate.
“We are very pleased with the results. The new website is clear and easy to navigate for everyone, with a very clean design and good level of contrast between the colour of the type and the background. We’ve had some really good feedback, and the website is very much a work in progress as we are adding new content all the time.”
The photo shows Martin Wilson, Sight Support Derbyshire’s Chairman of Trustees, and Danielle West, from 22Create, looking on as Lucy Moore and Steve Lomas, members of the VI user panel, navigate the website.
