Increasing website accessibility for conference attendees
Summary
The United Nations’ (UN) 2019 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction conference website didn’t meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 and needed to meet standards for visitors with disabilities. We were brought in to audit the website and fix the accessibility issues so it met globally-accepted standards.
The challenge
With their conference just weeks away, the UN’s technology team knew the 2019 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction website didn’t meet the WCAG 2.0 accessibility standards. To meet the standards and the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction’s commitment to accessibility, the technology team needed to act fast.
The solution
Leveraging Skylight’s Accessibility Guide, we kicked off the project with a compliance audit of the conference website’s accessibility deficiencies and generated a report of pressing issues. The audit included a review of images, colors, contrast ratios, outlines, and other content. Working with the internal team, we fixed the underlying issues and rewrote code to make the website meet the WCAG 2.0 accessibility standards. Finally, we tested the website with persons with disabilities who use screen readers and keyboard inputs. The work was completed in two weeks to meet the conference deadline.
The results
- Completed the accessibility audit and fixes in two weeks, just in time for the conference
- Provided accessibility development guidelines to enable future self-management