Website build case study: NCBI - working for people with sight loss

Website build case study: NCBI - working for people with sight loss

The Client

Founded over 90 years ago, the National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI), is Ireland’s national sight loss agency. The organisation’s mission is to transform the lives of adults and children who are blind or vision impaired. NCBI offers timely information and support, technology and innovative programmes designed to ensure individuals live life confidently and independently.?

Web Development Challenge

The project needed to meet several ‘must-haves’ in NCBI’s brief. These included:??

• Be easy to navigate and adhere to strict AA accessibility guidelines and WCAG2.1 standards.?
• Not compromise on the aesthetic quality and design of the website.?
• Include complex functionality such as an eCommerce store, donations, SalesForce integration and the myNCBI feature.?
• Accommodate a vibrant members’ area allowing the service users personalised access to its information.?
• Drive donations to the registered charity.?

The Project

Aware that technology is the single biggest enabler for individuals with sight loss, NCBI wanted to launch a website that was both well-designed and aesthetically appealing whilst meeting the highest standards of accessibility.??

NCBI wanted to design a website that was all about people. It needed to be an original website, designed to a high standard that did not compromise aesthetics. It also must offer a seamless user experience which was easy to navigate and effortless to access its information.?

It required complex functionality, including the ability to process payments, add donations, manage different types of access for members and purchasing, and support a members’ area and event bookings whilst still being fully accessible.??

Cognisant that this was a tall order, NCBI turned to Stratticus, known for its creativity and expertise in accessible design, to deliver a fully accessible, beautiful, and functional website.?

Results?

Stratticus delivered a crisp, functional, and considered website, designed with the end user in mind.??

• ?A fully interactive and aesthetically pleasing website.?
• ncbi.ie is WCAG2.1 certified and fully compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 level AA.??
• All content on this website conforms to WCAG 2.1 AA standards?
• Full e-commerce, donations, SalesForce and myNCBI members’ area accessible integration.?
• Accessibility features of this website include keyboard/screen reader navigation, accessible images, forms and tables. Correctly structured content with descriptive links, not just 'click here', document accessibility, consistency in layout and navigation across all devices and operating systems, and contextual information for charts and infographics.????

Kyran O’Mahoney, CTO at NCBI, explains,??

“Technology is the single biggest enabler for someone with sight loss. It was imperative that NCBI find a web-development partner with the understanding and know-how to create a website which gives our members and service users a positive online experience and easy access to our information.?

Our website processes a lot of complex functionality, like event bookings, a member’s area, myNCBI, an eCommerce store and donations processing, all of which needed to be accessible and meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG2.1) in a meaningful way.???

We were impressed with Stratticus's commitment to developing a user-friendly website that is both attractive and functional. NCBI and I look forward to continuing our relationship with Stratticus and working closely to further enhance NCBI’s online presence.”?

?Stratticus continues to provide ongoing technical support to NCBI, managing and maintaining its dynamic digital platform.?

If you are thinking of updating your website and want to ensure all your customers can browse and access your services, we would love to help you.

Get in touch:

+44 (0) 20 3794 6045 | [email protected]

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