Making the digital world more inclusive
Bake accessibility into your tech team's process so you can not only create products that are useable to a wider audience but also comply with WCAG 2.1 guidelines.
Our Services
Our general approach has produced resounding success; however, we don’t believe one size fits all so we tailor our services to meet your needs based on the requirements and size of your team.
WORKSHOP/WEBINAR
An overview to get you started on the journey of accessibility
We find the best way to kick off our accessibility training is to start with a comprehensive overview. This zoom based workshop gets your team looking at accessibility through an empathetic lens by expressing the impact of an inaccessible digital world. The WCAG 2.1 guidelines can be overwhelming, so we break it down into people-friendly terms based on the stages in your build process so each team member knows their role in achieving accessibility.
They will learn:
Who accessibility impacts
The WCAG 2.1 Accessibility Guidelines and what is needed to meet them
Best practices for building with accessibility in mind
What tools and resources are needed to test for accessibility
Other tips and tricks that will help along the way
Process & Strategy
Holistically weave accessibility into your overall process
Weaving Accessibility into your current build process is key. Waiting until the end of a project to initiate it can be time-consuming and costly. Luckily, with our help, accessibility will be a practice so baked into your process that it becomes second nature to include. We teach your team how to involve it at every stage of the project process, from strategic planning, through all the UX, interface design, & development stages.
You will gain:
Accessibility checklists for each major project milestone
A collaborative team accessibility goal
Confidence in your inclusive strategy
A strategy that will save you time and money
AUDITS & REPORTS
We give you an evaluation of your current level of accessibility
Our audits map out all the accessibility errors on your product/application that need to be fixed to meet WCAG 2.1 Guidelines and be legally AODA and ADA compliant. However, we believe that accessibility is best achieved when it goes beyond a compliancy checklist, so we include recommendations that may not necessarily fit into a specific WCAG list item. This leaves you with suggestions that improve not only accessibility but overall usability.
You will gain:
An overall summary of the numbers or errors we discovered by category
Extensive test results based on manual code review, contrast, keyboard, and screen-reader testing
How each issue can affect users
How to fix the issues
MENTORSHIP & EDUCATION
We will be right by your side (virtually) as you and your team learn and grow
Every team is different, with different internal processes, different ways they like to learn, and varying understanding of accessibility. That is why we cater our mentorship approach to ensure they have the resources they need to empower them towards accessible design and development in the formats that best suit them. Whether this is regular meetings or detailed documentation, your team will complete their time with us fueled with both knowledge and compassion for accessibility, making it a daily practice in their work.
Contact us to learn moreONGOING SUPPORT
We are just a call or email away, always!
Real growth is never over. After your team is ready to start tackling accessibility internally, we will always remain a quick message away to answer any questions that come up during new projects. We know our training will have you feeling so confident you will rarely need this, but as the technology field is always evolving and changing it is nice to know we are here if you need us.
Contact us to learn moreNot sure what you need yet? That’s okay! We can help you determine the best course of action after a free session to better understand your needs.
Important Components for an Accessible Website
Semantic code & added accessibility best practices
Multiple ways for the user to receive information
Viewable on all screen sizes & devices
Content that is easy to read and understand
Intuitive user-flow & easy to interact with
Functional control of the interactive elements
Usable with assistive technologies
User research & an empathetic approach
Proper use of colour and contrast ratio
Why Include Accessibility
Accessibility is a necessary practice to stay current & competitive
Designing inclusive software results in improved usability and customer satisfaction.-Microsoft's app developer guide
67%of consumers will pay more for a great experience
For Users
Good user experience can not be achieved without considering all needs and circumstances of your users, especially when considering that persons living with disabilities and impairments take up around 15% of the world’s population. Yet it goes beyond that 15%. Accessible design and development leads to huge improvements in the experience and loyalty of all users, not just those with disabilities.
As the digital world becomes even more influential in people's daily lives, many apps and websites will be made redundant when they fail to accommodate their users. Just consider, 79% of those who dislike a website will leave to find a competitor who serves their needs.
For Business
As businesses continue to learn to grasp the financial value in having great user experience, the push for design and development teams that offer this service is increasing. I mean, who can argue with a potential rise in the company’s KPIs up to 83% in conversion lift?
For the Future
Many provinces in Canada are progressing towards adopting similar accessibility laws to The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), making it a legal requirement for businesses to have accessible websites. When these laws are passed, any team not prepared will scramble to not get left behind.
Then there is America, where websites that do business in the United States are legally required to provide equal accessibility to all people following Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), yet many still do not which is the cause of major lawsuits and financial loss for those businesses. In 2019, web accessibility federal lawsuits hit record numbers, with 11,053 suits filed in federal court, an 8.8% increase from 2018.
Contact us to learn moreThe future is accessible
The accessibility problems of today are the mainstream breakthroughs of tomorrow.
How it improves brand loyalty
When you put your users first, they put you first!
Companies must remind themselves that people with disabilities are also important customers.
306%increase in financial value when a user is loyal to your brand
According to Paul Smyth, the Head of Digital Accessibility at Barclays, many organizations are waking up to the fact that embracing accessibility leads to multiple benefits – reducing legal risks, improving customer experience and colleague productivity, not to mention that accessibility strengthens brand presence. With so many companies out there competing for customers’ attention, it is increasingly important to build authentic brands that connect to your audience and keeps their engagement. In Canada and the US combined there are approximately 67.2 million people living with a disability, all with family members and friends who care equally about accessibility and are much more likely to be loyal to companies that align with those values.
Adopting accessibility into your business shows your customers, clients, and users that you care and gives them a reason to care about your success too.
Simply put, when accessibility is part of strategic planning, businesses are better equipped for success in our connected world of commerce, academia, and civic engagement.
Contact us to learn moreWords from a client
Our overall experience with Hey Nova was, in short, easy. They work closely with us on large and small projects, while providing valuable insight to better our understanding of accessibility. They delivered all feedback in one go, which allowed us to be more efficient for faster client turnaround times. The owners, Kirsten and Bryony, really care about accessibility. Not only do they care about being compliant, but they care about the human aspect of accessibility and how it feels to someone with accessibility needs.
Kris Nicolaou
