Opening the web to all

Moorfield's new site focuses on the people who will use it

As the public sector rushes to put its services online, making sure they are accessible to all is becoming a key priority.

With a diverse UK population made up of all ages, social classes, ethnicity, religion, background and ability, many organisations are looking for help in making sure they provide true universal access for all.

When London's Moorfields Eye Hospital decided to redesign its website, it turned first to usability specialists Optimum Web for advice.

"We needed it to be accessible for blind, visually impaired and elderly users and we wanted to be inclusive for all," said Moorfields' Communication Manager Molly Barker.

Colour tests

The site went through some rigorous user tests, which revealed that not all registered blind users preferred to use the special text-only site.

One person used the existing site, just reading it in very close proximity to the screen.

In the end, the designers decided that a clear, linear navigation system would work best.

The colours used on the site were made suitable for users with varying levels of colour blindness.

All the text was designed to be resizable, with the designers making use that if text size was increased, the whole site expanded with it.

Design for all

Public sector websites are under pressure to have all services online by 2005.

Before we can offer good human to computer communication we need to understand how people communicate human to human,

Andy Smith, Optimum Web

The rush to hit the target means that there is still a huge discrepancy between the information on the site and the usability of the services.

Only 2% of government websites have interactivity according to Optimum Web and there are almost as many approaches to website design as there are websites.

Andy Smith, from Optimum Web has some advice for sites.

First and foremost websites must understand the audience they are designing for if they are to be as socially inclusive as they can be.

"Design for all is what we should be aiming for," he said.

And catering for minorities does not need to mean doing things differently.

"Avoid offering the disabled user's version or just focusing on the needs of blind users," he said.

Ethnicity, religion and other conditions such as motor or cognitive difficulties must also be taken into account if the website is going to accessible to all.

But above all, designers should have a knowledge of the community who will use the site and an understanding of how communication works in the real world.

"Before we can offer good human-to-computer communication we need to understand how people communicate human-to-human," said Mr Smith.