Our Approach

e-ISOTIS has recently launched its own quality mark on accessibility of websites. Your website can now be reviewed by our experts including disabled people and receive specific comments on what has to be changed in order to ensure that your website is accessible by all sensory and moving disabilities. After we re-assess your website and you have complied with our suggestions, then you will get awarded our quality mark "EQUAL ACCESS". This will be a certificate that is normally valid for one year and declares that your website has been tested by web accessibility experts and disabled people and satisfies not only standard web accessibility criteria but also in practice disabled people like blind ones have assessed your website and they are able to access it without any problem.

At least 5 reasons why your website should be accessible

1. This is the law in your country. In some countries, the national legislation framework obliges public and sometimes also private websites to be accessible.
2. This is expected to be obligatory in the Europe. In June 2006, the Riga Ministerial Declaration, signed by ministers from EU Member States, accession and candidate countries, and EFTA/EEA countries (in total 34 countries) that sets out the following specific targets: ensure that all public websites are accessible by 2010.
3. Your website will be now viewable by at least a bigger market share of 10%. 10% is actually estimated the number of Internet users that experience some disability and cannot access inaccessible websites.
4. Accessible website implies good web design. In this respect, your accessible website at least will be ranked higher in the search engines and all people in general will be able to navigate through it easily.
5. Inaccessible web site, means no funding from the European Union. Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/ July 2006 and more specifically article 16, also adds that accessibility for people with disabilities has to be ensured at all stages of the programming, implementation and monitoring of the Structural Funds. This includes also equal access for disabled people to electronic environment like. Internet and information services, whether they are provided by public or private bodies.

Why my website needs the "EQUAL ACCESS" Quality Mark on Web Accessibility

The "EQUAL ACCESS" Quality Mark not only certifies that your website follows the standard web accessibility criteria but all disabled people are able to access it since some of our experts are disabled themselves (blind, deaf, moving disabilities etc) and provide feedback from first hand experience. Even, if you are confident that your website is accessible and you think that you do not need an assessment from e-ISOTIS then think it again. It is a fact that a lot of organisations that claim that they have their website accessible, in fact they don¢t at all . This is mainly due to inadequate experience on web accessibility norms by your web designers and lack up to now of having their website assessed by disabled experts.

How much will it cost?

e-ISOTIS undertakes the following procedures in the process of the web accessibility certification:

1. Testing the accessibility of your website and providing a report describing errors with suggestions
2. Re-test of your website after you have your problems fixed
3. Apply Certification fees (“Equal Access” Quality Mark on web accessibility issued by e-ISOTIS)
4. Re-Test after 12 months

The indicative costs in EURO ¤ for such a portfolio of services are:

Based on the above, it means that a company can have its website checked on its Accessibility conformance with suggestions of what has to change with a cost from 400¤.

Further Collaborations

Internet is not limited to national borders and “Equal Access” Quality Mark has at least a European dimension if not a global one. In this respect, e-ISOTIS is continuously looking for local partners that are interested to promote the “Equal Access” Quality Mark in the websites of their country. Please contact us for more info.

More information

For any further information, as well as if you are interested in receiving the “Equal Access” web accessibility quality mark, or if you wish to promote it in your country, please contact us. We will be happy to provide you with more information.