Council’s Website Hits the UK’s Top Ten for Accessibility

Neath Port Talbot Council’s corporate website has been ranked in the top ten of UK council websites for accessibility.

This makes it the highest placed Welsh authority on the independent ‘Silktide Accessibility Index’.

Silktide is a platform for understanding and improving large websites, which evaluates web accessibility and assigns a score based on their level of compliance with the globally recognised Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

The constantly updated platform is recognised as an international standard, and explains how to make web content more accessible to people, particularly those with disabilities.

Over the last year, the council has been working to review and migrate more than 2,800 pages of content, reducing the overall number of pages on the site by 50% by retiring redundant content in conjunction with service areas.

The new-look website is optimised for mobile and tablet devices in response to key insights gathered from user research data.

Benefits of the updated website include:

• New website design and user experience.
• Enhanced resident experience.
• Reduced failure demand by providing user centred content.
• Increased agility for rapid updates.

Neath Port Talbot Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Social Justice, Cllr Simon Knoyle, whose remit includes digital strategy, said:

“Our Digital staff have been working hard in transforming the look, feel and content on the authority’s corporate website and we are glad this effort has been acknowledged on the accessibility index.

“As a council we are always striving to lead in digital inclusion and ensuring that content is easy to read and meets the needs of our communities.”