The need

The United Vacations website and booking website required to be updated with new code to meet ADA standards for accessibility.  The website needed to be compliant in multiple browsers (IE, Firefox, Chrome and Safari) and multiple screen-readers (JAWS, NVDA & Voiceover).

My role

Become an expert in website accessibility, coordinate research efforts, test and implement code to comply with website accessibility and lead a small team of developer and designers. 

Customer insights

I collaborated with Project Managers, Business Analysists, Web Analytic Researchers, Art Directors, and client to design a fully accessible website that met ADA standards.

Strategy

I conducted research on the latest web standards for accessibility, following the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. Interviews were conducted with visually impaired website users to gain insight on specific needs.

Timeline

The project started in early March of 2016. A government issued deadline of January 1, 2017. Testing for the project was done on a day to day basis. All content on the website for United Vacations needed to meet ADA standards.  

Execution

I led the small team of website developers and designers in the process of updates. I participated in the design and code updates to the United Vacations website and booking tool. Testing was conducted in multiple browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Internet Explorer) and testing tools (NVDA, JAWS, Voiceover and AXE).

Testing

• Using a screen reader and having the website being read out loud with a audible program.

• Making sure the site was fully usable with just a keyboard.

• Seeing if the website could be used by a person with special needs through user acceptance testing.

Launch

The code was launched on December 14, 2016.

Impact

The updated code increased the amount of customers able to book a vacation through the United Vacations website. It offered a new way to attract customers with special needs.

What I learned

There are a lot of websites that are not accessible and it limits the amount of people that are able to use your services.  It would be extremely frustrating as a person with a disability to access information that seems fairly simple for someone without a disability.  I've learned that with all my future designs and coding practices to keep in mind accessibility for the best possible user experience.