Website accessibility is the provision of a fully accessible website for all people irrespective of ability. Over recent years online accessibility has become more prominent in the minds of businesses, with the introduction of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) in 1995, revised in 2005. The key aim of the DDA was to tackle the discrimination that disabled people face in society on a daily basis. The DDA also included requirements for websites to be fully accessible throughout the online community.

The Equality Act came into force in October 2010, which replaced the DDA, in England, Scotland and Wales.  The DDA & Equality Act are similar in that they both have the aim of tackling the discrimination which many disabled people face.

It is therefore very important to ensure that websites conform to the latest World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines, which will help ensure that your website is fully accessible. The risk of non conformance and having an inaccessible website, is the potential for legal action to be initiated by somebody that is unable to use your website, and as such being discriminated against.

The Equality Act is ‘anticipatory’, which means you cannot wait until a disabled person wants to use your services, but you must think in advance and on an ongoing basis, what disabled people with a range of disabilities might ‘reasonably’ require.

As well as having potential legal implications, there is also a strong business rationale for ensuring websites are fully accessible to disabled users. There are approximately 10 million disabled people in the UK alone with a combined spending power of approximately £80 billion, so an inaccessible website may also result in lost business.

Making a website accessible

To make your website fully accessible it is recommended that conformance to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0,  Level AA is achieved.

Conformance to these standards, will involve testing a website against a number of guidelines, identifying and resolving any issues. There are a number of potential issues that would prevent your website being accessible to disabled users, with one of the most common being failure to have a meaningful text alternative for images on a website. Not all visitors will be able to see the images so its essential to provide a text alternative, which can be read by assistive technologies, such as screen readers.

Action For Better Access

John Kelly & Rev James Webber (Action For Better Access) & Matt Chandler WSI, far right

At WSI Jersey we are passionate about creating an internet which is inclusive for all sectors of the online population and we have recently partnered with the UK charity Action For Better Access, to provide online accessibility services.

Action for Better Access and WSI Jersey, will work together with the common aim of seeking to raise awareness and improve online accessibility for the disabled community.

Internet Advertising and Social Media Marketing Remains Prominent

After the economic challenges of 2009, companies around the world began to experience a gradual recovery last year as the term “recession” started to fade. More specifically, advertising revenues made a comeback in 2010, with a great deal of emphasis being placed on digital forms of marketing and communications.

Over the past year, Internet advertising, including paid search, display ads and social media marketing saw an increase in spending among UK and European marketers, as less focus was placed on traditional forms of advertising, such as newspaper, radio and television. Recent statistics indicate that this trend is expected to continue in 2011.

As the online population continues to rise, marketers are allocating a greater share of their advertising budgets toward the Internet. Additionally, the social media audience is growing at a rapid pace, transforming the way companies communicate and market to their target audience. Gone are the days when advertising was a one-way messaging strategy. Today, digital media provides new channels of two way communication, and this paradigm shift is evident in the way marketers are spending their advertising budgets.

The 2011 Internet Marketing Trends Report is a brief synopsis of current online marketing trends in the UK and Europe, as well as projections for the next few years. Specifically, the report covers Internet usage and penetration, online activities, advertising spending, Internet marketing, social media trends and a brief mention of mobile marketing.

If you would like a copy of our complimentary 2011 Internet Marketing Trends Report, please Contact Us and we will email a copy by return.

Before we get to that, ask yourself this one important question – is your LinkedIn profile complete, professionally done and updated often? If you answered “no”, then you’ve got to start at the very basics! There is no point in having an online profile page that does not truly represent who you are, what qualifications and experience you bring to possible business associates and why other LinkedIn members should invite you to their network of connections.

Presenting a professional image of yourself is critical and a LinkedIn profile is a great tool you can use for this purpose. By getting recommendations from well connected members in your network, you can manage and build a strong reputation as well. It is also a great way to showcase testimonials from happy customers!

It is not complicated, perhaps a little time consuming in the beginning to set up a good profile page on LinkedIn. Take the time to follow the steps on how to build your LinkedIn profile and you can’t go wrong.

According to LinkedIn, over 60 million professionals use this leading professional online network to exchange information, ideas and opportunities. You can use it to

• Find the people and knowledge you need to achieve your business / professional goals
• Better manage and control your professional identity online
• Stay informed about your contacts and industry using LinkedIn Updates
• Contact hiring managers and consultants directly using the InMail feature and enhance your career opportunities
• Browse the Jobs Directory and LinkedIn Job Postings
• See a full list of who has viewed you profile -not everyone who has some professional interest in you may contact you immediately, but if you are keen and get in touch, you may uncover some great hidden opportunities!
• Ask questions and seek advice, take advantage of the experience and expertise of this vast professional community online!
• Answer questions and wear your “expert’s hat” to further enhance your reputation
• Use direct advertising with a LinkedIn ad that will be viewed only by the target audience you specify
• If you have a blog and are strapped for good content, find possible guest bloggers on your LinkedIn network and invite them to post comments to your blog
• Improve your Google page rank by making your LinkedIn Profile available for indexing by search engines
• Use the search feature to find people by company, industry and city. This way you can research your prospects before meeting or contacting them

These are only a dozen advantages of utilising the power of LinkedIn, and they are growing by the day!

One last piece of advice, try publicising your LinkedIn URL on every possible touch point, on  your marketing materials, your business card, in your email signature, sign-off line in your email newsletters, on your website, flyers and brochures, and anywhere that customers, prospects, potential employers, business associates and partners can learn more about you.