We are proud to announce that Recite Me is sponsoring and attending the 23rd annual Institutional Web Management Workshop (IWMW) at the University of Greenwich next week.
IWMW 2019 supports professional development for those working in institutional web and digital teams in the UK’s higher education community.
IWMW was launched in 1997 to help institutional UK higher educational institutions web managers keep up to date with developments in web technologies and learn from peers about emerging best practices for managing large scale web services.
What’s covered at IWMW 2019?
The event covers a wide range of relevant topics including accessibility, digital transformation, website/digital governance, digital strategy, UX, design, development, and student recruitment and retention.
The theme for IWMW 2019 is “Times They Are A-Changin’”. The event will be an opportunity for those with responsibilities for managing institutional web services and related digital channels to share their experiences of how they respond to the changing times.
The IWMW 2019 event programme gives full details of what’s going on, and new innovations for this year’s event include a small number of short talks on the opening day, plus a panel session on “Supporting Institutions in Changing Times”.
Supporting higher education
As a web accessibility software company we are keen to support the event to help higher education web and digital professionals understand more about digital accessibility.
Recite Me’s web accessibility and language toolbar is already used by institutions like Cranfield University and Brunel University London, so it’s proven to improve the accessibility of higher education websites.
But new research shows that the majority of UK university websites don’t meet global accessibility standards and will need development to meet new UK public sector accessibility laws.
The numbers don’t lie
According to the sitemorse.com 2019 Q2/UK & IE Universities & Higher Ed report, 80% of the university websites it tested reported back a score of less than five out of ten for website accessibility.
The study also showed that over 40 percent of pdf’s on the university websites tested failed accessibility tests.
This means the websites and their content don’t follow the principles of the WCAG 2.1 AA global web accessibility guidelines.
However, to comply with The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No.2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 every new website (published on or after the regulations came into force in September 2018) must meet WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards by 23 September 2019.
Whilst existing websites must meet WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards by 23 September 2020.
The way forward
To make a website or mobile app accessible universities must ensure as many people as possible can use it to do what they need to do.
You can start your journey to ensure your institution’s website is accessible by talking to our team at IWMW 2019.
We look forward to meeting you next week!
100’s of organisations already use Recite Me to make their websites more accessible and inclusive…call 0191 4328092 to find out more or book your free demo now.
