International Standards and Guidelines
The Growing Light website has been designed according to international design guidelines. For a thorough reading of the said guidelines, please go to the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
- Standards Compliance
- Web Accessibility Initiative
- The European Union: an Information Society for All
- Disability Rights Commission
Standards Compliance
It is the intention of Growing Light that:
- all pages comply with Priority 1, 2, and 3 checkpoints of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 1.0;
- all pages on this site be WCAG Priority 1, 2, and 3 approved;
- all pages on this site validate as XHTML 1.0 Transitional;
- this site uses valid Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
Web Accessibility Initiative
The stated aim of W3C, through the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), is "…to lead the Web to its full potential…promoting a high degree of usability for people with disabilities."
Growing Light supports the stated aim of W3C-WAI, vis-à-vis accessibility, and will strive to update and revise this site in line with W3C-WAI recommendations as, and when, they arise.
The European Union: an Information Society for All
The European Union (EU) is committed to Web Accessibility and e-Inclusion and has adopted the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 for public sector websites in the EU; Growing Light shares these goals.
As a further measure aimed at increasing accessibility of the Web in EU Member States, W3C and the EU launched the WAI - Design for All (WAI-DA) Project in 2000.
The goal of the WAI-DA Project is to create more usable and friendly sites for everyone - it is intended that the Growing Light website be counted amongst them.
Disability Rights Commission
In 2003, the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) commissioned the Centre for Human Computer Interaction Design (HCID) at City University, London to test web accessibility across 1,000 websites popular with users living in England, Scotland, and Wales.
The report, The Web: Access and Inclusion for Disabled People, published in April, 2004, makes 15 recommendations in regard to website accessibility of which four are aimed at web commissioners, in this instance, Growing Light, and web developers.
The DRC-HCID recommendations that have been considered in relation to the design of this website are as follow:
- Recommendation 1: Website commissioners should formulate written policies for meeting the needs of disabled people (see Growing Light's Website Policy);
- Recommendation 3: Website developers should accept that good practice entails attending and responding to the needs of disabled people;
- Recommendation 5: Website developers should involve disabled users from an early stage in the design process;
- Recommendation 6: In accordance with the Guidelines (see W3C in Standards Compliance, website developers should not rely exclusively on automated accessibility testing.
For a more thorough reading of the recommendations, please refer to the DRC website.
Contact
To find out more about Growing Light, contact Ken Smith on 07818 022854
e-mail: info@growinglight.co.uk