With the end of year swiftly approaching, the HeX team are starting to wrap up their 2023 project work. Before we do so, we take a look back over some of the exciting tasks that we’ve accomplished throughout the year.
2023 has been a busy year for the HeX team. We’ve proudly assisted over 30 organisations, including 16 pioneering educational institutions, on their journey to becoming accessible. This has been accomplished through accessibility audit testing, sharing inclusive knowledge to upskill teams, providing consultancy, and, of course, designing and developing a range of accessible platforms.
Not only has this been achieved in the UK, but our work this year has also spanned across the United States, South Africa, Australia, and Ireland too.
This year also saw the launch of our largest awareness campaign to date and a brand new accessibility service, both aimed at heightening awareness on the need for digital accessibility.
2023 accessible web design and development projects
Throughout the year, the HeX team has had some impressive web design and development projects to sink our teeth into.
We’ve designed and developed a striking website for Palace Theatre Newark. Implementing bespoke Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), such as:
- Interactive calendars and seating plans
- Robust search and filter elements
- Payment and donation applications
- Private login areas for members
- Embedded Google Maps and sign up forms
All built with accessibility at its core to ensure the user experience has taken the centre stage for customers.
We also set to work creating an ecommerce platform for Mouth and Foot Painting Artist, and friend of HeX, Rob Trent. We built a minimalistic, yet modern design, which has enabled art enthusiasts to easily view and purchase his incredible and unique artwork.
These, along with an array of development projects, including assisting Queen Mary University of London, Fiske, Newark and Sherwood District Council and more.
In turn, making sure that these organisations meet with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA standards.
Performing website audit testing to seek out accessibility barriers
HeX is proud to have worked with some industry giants in 2023, seeking out online accessibility errors.
This included working with the UK Space Agency. Our experts assessed the accessibility and user experience of their internal platform, testing a templated Sharepoint site, which hosted an abundance of digital documents. Our auditing results and accessibility consultancy will assist their 45,000 employee strong workforce to have equal access to online tools and resources; creating an accessible space for all.
We also had the pleasure of performing robust accessibility testing for the University of Nottingham. By collating our findings into a comprehensive report and giving live assistive technology demonstrations, we could show why errors would impact their students. This allowed the university to prioritise and plan the required changes, so current and prospective students will gain access to educational information, no matter what device they may use.
Securing four new maintenance clients
HeX is delighted to add four more wonderful maintenance clients to our books this year!
Throughout 2024, we look forward to continuing to take good care of our new clients:
- The Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion (enei)
- NUH Life
- Homefield College
- Live Arts Development Agency (LADA) – external link
This will make sure that all organisations will stay up-to-date, keep secure, and remain accessible.
Upskilling accessibility training to empower clients
There’s nothing we love more than spreading awareness about the need for digital accessibility. We do so, by passionately sharing our inclusive knowledge to help and empower others.
This year, we’ve held a host of training sessions, upskilling organisations such as Dundee City Council on inclusive content best practices.
We’ve also held a host of guest speaker sessions on the need to put digital accessibility at the forefront. This included giving a thought-provoking talk at the East Midlands ‘Service Designers Connect’ meet-up, and a range of sessions for local schools and universities.
Our Front-end Developers, Hérick and Tom, have also been hard at work training clients with new websites. With every web development project we complete, the team not only shows how to easily update and manage their new platform, but how to do so in an accessible way. This Content Editor Training helps to ensure that their websites remain inclusive in the years to come.
New Accessibility Empathy Lab Experience
This year, we launched a new service, our Accessibility Empathy Lab Experience!
We took the lab on the road, giving some hands-on experiences through the use of items such as VR technology. This included paying a visit to Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies’ Content Creation students, demonstrating the need for inclusive design in their project work.
We built on empathy at Wadsworth Fields Primary School, and helped design professionals at Nottingham Trent University’s Service Designers Connect meet-up to gain a deeper understanding on the barriers that many face online.
Raising awareness that Digital Accessibility Matters
2023, saw the return of our Digital Accessibility Matters campaign.
For three months, we managed to reach out to hundreds of thousands of people, raising vital awareness on the barriers affecting millions of users online.
During this campaign, we urged people to report inaccessible platforms, shared best inclusive practices, and provided a range of free tools to help to eliminate digital obstacles.
16 incredible disability influencers also joined us on our crusade to build an accessible online world. Our accessibility advocates shared inspiring videos on the impact that poor digital accessibility brings and what is needed for platforms to become inclusive.
Though the campaign may be over for this year, we’ll still be striving to raise awareness on why digital accessibility matters, with the hope we one day have a truly inclusive online world for all.
We want to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in making the campaign a success, and to our social media followers and influencers for helping to spread this important message.
Looking towards building an inclusive 2024
We are proud to have helped so many organisations across the globe in 2023 on their way to becoming inclusive. They now have the tools, confidence and skills needed to put digital accessibility at the forefront.
But we aren’t stopping there, we are gearing up ready to take on many more projects in 2024, with the aim of making it the most inclusive year yet!
If you are prioritising digital accessibility in the New Year and need guidance on how to do so, get in touch with our experts. Visit our services web page to find out how we can assist your organisation and your website visitors with our end-to-end accessibility solutions.
