Home
Spider Trax
- WordPress Forum Thank You
- Most of the time, I actively enjoy doing a little part-time work in the WordPress support forum. Not only is…
- W3C Universal Validator
- The goal of the Unicorn Project is to create a universal validator that will be able to validate and check…
- CVS.com To Meet Web Accessibility Standards
- CVS/pharmacy, the United State’s largest retail pharmacy, recently announced that it will enhance web accessibility on its site. The announcement is…
quirm.net
- ShopTab eCommerce Cart of the Week ? eShop
- I was recently approached by a Facebook shopping application developer to do an interview, and for once I said…
- Thank You for the Thank You
- Pleasantly surprised to see that we (esmi & elfin) were both mentioned in A Little Support.
- Customising The Default WordPress Theme: 2
- Protecting Your Customisations If you have customised the WordPress default theme, all of your changes will be over-written the next time…
- Are you still using that browser?Get FireFox and rediscover the web.
Black Widow is a Merseyside-based accessible web design company offering high quality design and consultancy services with an emphasis on standards compliancy, web accessibility and individualised, client support.
As a female-led consultancy, we specialise in providing web services to women-managed businesses, communities and social enterprises across Merseyside and the North West of England. We develop standards compliant sites that combine high web accessibility levels with effective design - without compromising on looks or corporate image.
Services
Black Widow's services include:
- Web Design & Development
- WordPress Installation & Customisation
- Site Accessibility Assessments
- Web Consultancy
- Site Maintenance
- Ecommerce Solutions
- Customised Graphics
Answers to frequently asked questions.
Accessible Web Design
One of the main goals of accessible web design is to open up the Web for people with disabilities by creating flexible sites that accommodate each visitor's needs and preferences. Given that there are about 10 million people with disabilities in the UK alone, increasing web site accessibility can significantly increase your customer base.
However, accessible web sites have been consistently shown to benefit everyone - whether they have a recognised disability or not - because these designs make best use of the technologies available. For example, a compliant, accessible web site can be usable on both a cellphone and a large desktop computer. Modern, standards-based design methods can also reduce the overall weight of a site by 25% to 50% without reducing the site's content - so visitors can access pages on your site that much more quickly and effectively.
The technology used to create accessible sites also benefits site owners directly as many site-wide changes can be made relatively quickly by any web developer with access to the relevant standards specifications - thus reducing your lock-in with any one design company or application.
In summary, evidence suggests that all web users, and site owners, prefer accessible web sites because they are easier to use, more responsive and simpler to maintain - regardless of what technology, specialist or otherwise, is being used to access them.
If you would like to learn more about the commercial benefits that can be gained by creating a standards compliant web site, you can find more information at maccaws.org.
We would especially recommend that all current, or potential, web site owners should consult the documents PAS 78: Guide to Good Practice in Commissioning Accessible Websites and What Every Web Site Owner Should Know About Accessibility.
