Introduction
Reward Gateway recognizes the importance of providing a platform that is inclusive and available for all user groups. In this article, we'll take a closer look at:
- Why accessibility matters.
- Our approach to making our products accessible, including what we have done and will do in the future.
- The facilities that we have provided for different user groups.
- Guidance on how to use particular features.
Why accessibility matters
Accessibility affects many people, and in ways that aren’t always obvious. Over 60% of the world’s population wears glasses – that’s an accessibility requirement. Even being temporarily ill or losing one’s voice, using hands-free while driving, or holding a bag of groceries while trying to use a phone highlights that nobody can count themselves as “always fully able”.
No matter who the target audience, people with accessibility needs are already within it. And the older the audience, the greater those needs become.
Solve for one, extend to many
Everyone has abilities and limits to those abilities. Designing for people with permanent disabilities actually results in designs that benefit people universally.
When developing our solutions, we always make sure they are accessible to the widest possible audience. Designers, Developers, and Quality Assurance Specialists make sure our products meet accessibility standards and enable assistive technologies.
Inclusive by design
We design our products with accessibility standards and user needs in mind.
Below you will find some of the measures we have taken in order to ensure our platform can be accessed by people with specific accessibility needs.
Partially sighted users and those reliant on screen magnifiers
Addressing the color contrast
We ensure we always have good color contrast, readable font size and don’t rely solely on color as the differentiator. Bellow you can see an example with the colors that we use for buttons. Making sure the color contrast is enough is one of the reasons why we don't allow personalising the color of important interface elements like the buttons.
Addressing the font size
While there is no official minimum font size for the web, we’re committed to providing the most appropriate text sizes depending on the role they play in the information architecture. Here’s the split of the minimum font sizes for body text we support across our platform:
- 18px for text-heavy pages such as Blog posts and Pages.
- 14px for any other content across the platform, except for supporting meta content which is 12px – e.g. taglines, credits.
In addition:
- We comply with 1.4.4 of the WCAG 2.0 standards for text resizing without assistive technology up to 200% without loss of content or functionality – (Level AA).
- Visitors can control the size of the text by using one of the following controls and techniques (content by AbilityNet):
Color-blind users
We have checked the site font and background color combinations for the different color blindness conditions and ensured that items are not referenced by color alone.
We use shapes, icons and labels to set apart different elements and their states.
|
Normal vision |
Deuteranomaly |
|
|
|
Clients can change the color of text and background on their SmartHub® by introducing their own style sheet. Please follow the instructions in changing the style sheet further down this article.
Users with dyslexia
We use supporting images and diagrams, keep content clear, simple and with a consistent layout. We have 45 to 75 characters per line and ensure for optimal line height to improve the reading experience for all people and especially for those with dyslexia.
Deaf users
We do not use any audio on the website, however, the videos uploaded on the site contain audio content.
Users with physical or motor disabilities
We make sure our website has big clickable areas and that it is easily accessible for keyboard-only users.
Support and technology
Reward Gateway’s website currently supports the following browsers: the latest version of Google Chrome and the current and the previous releases of Firefox®, Safari®, and the Microsoft® browsers – Microsoft Edge™ and Internet Explorer® 11. All pages on the site are valid Hyper Text Mark-up Language (XHTML) 1.0 Transitional and use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). This website follows the Worldwide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, meeting all level double-A checkpoints.
Reward Gateway’s website is being developed to support Internet users who have disabilities and we believe it is compliant with RNIB's See It Right accessibility criteria. Where appropriate, blind or visually impaired users are directed to our telephone and textphone Helpdesk teams who are able to provide assistance, including providing information in an accessible format for any user who requests it. All users have access to a wide range of benefits over the phone, and all discounted vouchers can also be purchased in this way.
Please note, some discounts require users to access external websites, these are controlled by third parties and so different standards of accessibility may apply on these sites.
Screen reader/voice browser
Our navigation mechanisms are accessible by screen readers and voice browsers. Text equivalents of all non-decorative images have been provided and the relevant page and table header tags inserted.
Changing the style sheet
Users may import their own style sheet into the website. In Internet Explorer, select Tools, then Internet Options and then Accessibility. Next click on any or all of three checkboxes to ignore colors, font styles or font sizes. In the same window, you can change the style sheet by clicking the checkbox that says 'Format document using my style sheet', then simply browse to your preferred style sheet and click ok.
Future developments
We are further working towards obtaining accessibility certification and constantly improving our products in terms of both design and technology so they are available to the widest possible audience.
One example of our efforts in this direction is the future update of buttons on our platform – bigger, with better contrast and easier to notice.