Partnering with Recite Me

What can you see in the image above? If, like me, it's just a circle of random dots, then there's a very good chance you may be colour blind. The Ishihara test, developed in 1917 by Dr. Shinobu Ishihara, is a series of these types of spotty circles to check for different types of deficiency. I can barely make out any of them!

I'm not going to claim this makes a significant impact to my day to day life; in fact, I rarely notice it. However, it does become apparent when websites, signs or posters have very similar colours, or colours that don't work well together. It doesn't stop me from doing what I need to do however.

Being colour blind is generally an inconvenience. But there are over 1 billion people worldwide that are blocked from using websites due to their disability, a learning difficulty, their language ability or a visual impairment. I believe we have a duty to provide a way for these people to use the websites we build in the easiest way possible.

We have always built with AA accessibility in mind, using semantic HTML, including the correct tagging and providing alternate text. And we design using colour schemes that are readable. But this isn't enough and we need to go further.

This has driven us to partner with Recite Me, a leading provider of on-demand accessibility software. We are so impressed with it that we have added it to our own website. We're also rolling it out to a variety of our clients' websites.

As they say themselves, they "offer a range of on-demand accessibility solutions that support you in conforming to WCAG standards and ensure that your website is user-friendly for individuals with disabilities, situational challenges and language support".

If you're thinking about how to make your website more accessible, or need advice, we'd be happy to discuss how Recite Me could help you.