Mandoforms launch Online Accessibility Guide with Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB)
Mandoforms, the Manchester-based intelligent online forms specialist, has joined forces with the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) to produce the first online forms accessibility guide. The aim of the free document is to help organisations to create and deploy user-friendly
e-forms, making their services easily accessible to all potential customers in accordance with government regulations.
Mandoforms commissioned accessibility experts from the RNIB Technology in Learning and Employment (TiLE) team to produce the guide to raise awareness of the everyday problems faced by disabled, blind and partially sighted
people and to promote good practice in creating accessible online forms.
International accessibility guidelines, such as the World Wide Web Consortium Accessibility Initiative (W3C WAI), already exist for websites but the collaboration between the RNIB and Mandoforms has produced the first accessibility guide solely dedicated to online forms.
For any organisation to be successful it is essential that the services they provide are of benefit to all existing and potential customers without exclusion, said Kevin Trembath product manager at Mandoforms. It is the
same for online services, providing technology alone is not enough. It is vital that organisations and e-form developers in particular, are aware of the ways that disabled, blind and partially sighted people access the
Internet if they are to produce fully accessible e-forms that present no barriers to users, regardless of ability or disability, technology and circumstance.
Creating forms that can be completed by all users is not only good practice, but also a legal requirement under the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act, section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act, the 2001 Special Educational Needs
and Disability Act and in line with the eEurope Initiative. The accessibility guide outlines good practice advice for organisations to design inclusively and create more accessible forms that meet legal obligations and provide a better experience for all users, not just people
with disabilities.
Mandoforms is taking the need for accessible online forms very seriously, said Ruth Loebl, Senior ICT Development Officer for the RNIB TiLE team.
There are approximately two million people in the UK with sight problems, many of whom are being excluded from the support and services they require because of inaccessible online resources.
She added: Mandoforms is at the leading edge of accessible technology, it provides online forms with significant coverage of the major industry accessibility guidelines straight out of the box. RNIB will continue to work
with Mandoforms to champion the need for accessible data capture and ensure social inclusion for all.
Mandoforms has a wealth of experience in helping both public and private sector companies to take their services online, including finance and recruitment organisations. The company is currently working with a number
of local authorities throughout the UK to reach the e-government target of 2005. The Accessibility Guide is the first step in an ongoing relationship between Mandoforms and RNIB to ensure accessible data capture is high on the
public and private sector's agenda.
The Accessibility Guide is available free of charge. The Guide can be downloaded in PDF and text format from the Mandoforms webiste:
Mandoforms launch Online Accessibility Guide.
With RNIB