Technical information
Web standards
Our work is governed by standards laid down by the W3C. What is the W3C? Well in their own words
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international consortium where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards.
Still as clear as mud? Well these are the boffins who define the future of the web and try to keep evryone moving in the same direction using technology that fits together, or in their words again
In order for the Web to reach its full potential, the most fundamental Web technologies must be compatible with one another and allow any hardware and software used to access the Web to work together. W3C refers to this goal as "Web interoperability."
By following their standards and guidelines we ensure that the work we do will work on the next generation of browsers as well as the current one.
We use XHTML and CSS (cascading style sheets) to create web pages. If there is any 'back end' work we use PHP. We have been using and following these technologies as they were refined and updated for over 10 years.
Accessibility and the DDA
It is not widely known but websites have to comply with the DDA. As the RNIB say...
Broadly speaking, the DDA makes it unlawful to discriminate against disabled people in the way in which you recruit and employ people; provide services; or provide education. Discrimination can take place in two ways - by treating a disabled person less favourably; and/or by failing to make "reasonable adjustments" so that disabled people can participate in employment and education or make use of a service.
So how does that affect a website, and does it affect your website?. Broadly speaking the act says that websites may be covered under the employment provisions, as they may be a means of advertising jobs; or there may be an intranet which staff need to use. Websites will most commonly be covered when they constitute the provision of a service, or they are related to education. As of yet there have been no cases brought to law in the UK but The sydney olympic web site was sucessfully prosecuted and fined $20000 for not producing an accessible website.
So what can I do to make my site accessible.
Making your site accessible should not be seen as a separate event. It should be inherent in the design of the site and considered and actioned upon from the beginning of the project. If you follow the coding standards laid down by the W3C you are already halfway there. then it is just a case of following the WAI (web accessibility initiative) guidelines to the appropriate level. Even if you think your website is does not come under the scope of te DDA it is still good practice to make you site accessible as it produces a better and more usable site in general for all users.
I've already got a website and i want to make it accessible
No problem. Any website can be made accessible and it can be done rectrospectively to your current site. We can perform an acessibilty audit for you to let you know the current status of your site. See our web healthcheck page
Web Development
We use PHP for web development projects. What is PHP? Well according to www.php.net...
PHP is a widely-used general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for Web development and can be embedded into HTML.
In other words it's an excellent language to use when developing web applications. PHP is open source which means it is available for general public use without a licensing fee and therefore does not carry any hidden costs if you are using your application commercially
Contact us at contact@trilobita.co.uk or fill in our contact form.
