Latest Articles

Business Briefing: Where Next for Venture Capitalists?

Despite the economic downturn venture capitalists are still looking at investment opportunities in digital media. New Media Knowledge spoke to one to get the low down on what VCs want.

more

Social Media in Practice: BBC Radio 5 Live

Web publishers and broadcasters always have to look for new and innovative ways to maintain existing audiences and win new ones. When BBC Radio 5 Live realised it was losing listeners to other sources of football-based content it launched a new service to win them back. New Media Knowledge met the people responsible.

more

Conservationists Embrace Social Media

Television is increasingly embracing new media to reach new audiences and add interesting applications. New Media Knowledge talks to the people behind a new online conservation series that aims to raise wider awareness of the plight of endangered species.

more

• The Language of the Web
• Rough Guide to: In-Game Advertising
• Alexander McCall-Smith Engages Web 2.0
• Business Brief: Video Advertising Looks to Future
• ‘Virtual Home’ for Ex-Pats in London Established
• Rough Guide to: Social Media and the Law
• Record Visits for UK Blog Sites

Related Articles

• Accessibility for Better Business

  Businesses of all sizes are missing out on opportunities to create new leads and make more sales because they aren’t following basic web accessibility practices. That’s according to a new white paper from CMS developer Squiz. Ian Delaney reports. more

• Accessibility audit vs. testing

  Article outlining the difference between the two accessibility evaluation methods: The accessibility audit and accessibility testing. more

• Accessing the world of web 2.0

  Accessibility is currently in a great state of change. Trenton Moss outlines what the future may hold in this area and how this may affect your website. more

• Beyond guidelines: Extra accessibility

  Find out how to go beyond the W3C accessibility guidelines and offer a truly accessible web experience. more

• Using the Web Accessibility Toolbar

  The Web Accessibility Toolbar will help you test any website for basic accessibility in just a few minutes - find out where you can get it from and how to use it. more

Cafe Rouge's new accessible website

Café Rouge have claimed to have launched a new accessible website. Webcredible's Trenton Moss doesn't quite agree

Café Rouge has recently relaunched their website with accessibility in mind and are "taking the challenge of web accessibility seriously", according to their press release today. I’m not so sure if I agree with this statement. They claim their website conforms to Level A of the accessibility guidelines, but really this is nothing to shout about. (This is particularly true as the site doesn’t even conform to level A. For example, the site can’t be used if images are turned off and equivalent content isn’t provided for users who don’t have Flash.)

Conformance to just Level A guidelines means that more or less everyone will be able to access the content, but really you’ve got to be aiming higher than this. Even though most people can access all the content, it will be so incredibly difficult and arduous to do so for many users with special needs that they might as well have not bothered. We’ve got to be aiming higher than Level A, particularly when building a brand new site that isn’t particularly sizeable. Full compliance with level AA or even AAA isn’t realistic for many organisations in practice, but we at least need to be aiming for these as every little bit helps.

Probably the most ironic thing about the Café Rouge press release is that the homepage of their new site sports a link, 'click here'. Avoiding link text like 'click here' and making sure link text makes sense out of context is one of the most well known and important guidelines out there.

Trenton Moss, Webcredible