Here are a few things worth keeping in mind all the way through from conceptualising to launching your website.
Accessibility from day 1
It's much more timely and cost-effective to build in accessibility at the start of your project. Trying to add it on at the end is like building a house then digging the foundations around it. If budget permits, have us carry out a development audit, where we work with you during each key stage in the project to make sure your website is accessible from the ground up.
British Standard BS 8878 is a code of practice that introduces non-technical professionals to the processes (rather than the technical details) involved in researching, procuring and producing an accessible website.
Think like a user
As you design and build the site, always try to imagine yourself as a user visiting it for the first time. Can you find information or products easily? Do the language, page layout, font style and colour scheme make it easy to read and understand? How intuitive is the interactive content? Would you recommend the site to your mother or to a friend with poor sight or learning difficulties?
Avoid clutter
When you're thinking about how to deliver large or complex content, you might be tempted to squash a lot of information and links on to each page. Instead, why not break it down into manageable sections, so that your users, especially those with learning difficulties or dyslexia or who use handheld devices or screen magnification software, can find and understand your content more easily.
Make it flexible
Unless you're designing an intranet, don't limit your traffic by building the site with a particular device, browser or user group in mind. If your layout is robust enough to render on mobile devices and magnified screens, you're opening the door to a much larger audience. It's not safe to assume that the type of business you're in or the content you're delivering won't appeal to particular user groups. You'd be surprised, for example, at how many blind car enthusiasts and deaf musicians are out there.
Stay up to date
Make sure your designers, developers and primary content contributors have up-to-date knowledge of accessibility principles ,either by sending them on training courses, or by ensuring they have time to research emerging accessibility trends.