'AAA' success for Coatbridge College

Saturday, 27 September 2008 14:42

Coatbridge College recently launched their new ‘AAA’ compliant website with the help of MSP Elaine Smith, providing users with a more accessible and easy to use source of online information.

Local MSP Elaine Smith joined College Principal John Doyle as the new College website was showcased at a gathering attended by staff and students at Coatbridge College. The event gave attendees the chance to familiarise themselves with the new website and assess its new features with guidance from Errol Luders, Media Support Manager.

Alienation Digital worked alongside Coatbridge College to create and develop the new website to provide relevant, current and easily accessible information to all users. Consultation with College staff and students steered the development of the website, ensuring it was accessible, easy to navigate and provides a better overall experience for the user. Students can search and apply for courses online, create their own customised course guide and keep up to date with College information.

The website is fully compatible with a range of assistive technologies, including voice recognition and screen readers to allow as wide a group of learners as possible to access College information. Special consideration was given to the layout and structure of the website to maximize ease of finding information and during content creation, Plain English guidelines were used as an essential feature for readability.

John Doyle said:
‘We are delighted to provide learners with a fully inclusive website. Through careful consideration of design, structure and content, this new site will offer greater accessibility to College information for all users and ultimately improve the student experience’.

Elaine Smith said:
‘The AAA website is a welcome addition to the many excellent services on offer at Coatbridge College. Having met with the staff and students, I was encouraged to see that they had played an integral role in the development of the site by ensuring that it is tailored to the needs of those who use it.

It is clear that the website has been designed with accessibility in mind and offers particular benefits to those with learning support needs. I fully support any measures which open up education and make learning more accessible to the local community’.

To see the accessibility features of the new site in action visit www.coatbridge.ac.uk. Also, video clips and information on the range of access features can be viewed at http://www.scottish-rscs.org.uk

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