BlueToad Achieves WCAG 2.1 Certification
BlueToad, a content delivery platform, said it has achieved a Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 certification for content in the replica and responsive versions of its platform. This certification demonstrates that content published using the BlueToad Platform can be made accessible to a wide range of people with disabilities.
WCAG 2.1 covers recommendations for making web content more accessible. This includes making content more accessible to people with disabilities, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, language, learning, and neurological. Although these guidelines account for numerous user needs, they are not able to address the needs of people with all types, degrees, and combinations of disability.
BlueToad’s most recent certification project, which for the first time included its responsive Lily Platform, was completed for Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation for recognizing and celebrating the finest historic hotels throughout the United States. The company certified the digital edition of the Historic Hotels of America’s 2019 Annual Directory.
Historic Hotels of America used BlueToad’s Accessible Content Service as part of achieving compliance. BlueToad’s service involves leveraging platform functionality with enhanced data entry to provide accessible textual equivalents to visual elements contained within the content. When publishers capitalize on this service, their content becomes more accessible to a wider range of people with disabilities, including accommodations for blindness and low vision, deafness and hearing loss, limited movement, speech disabilities, and photosensitivity.
In addition to this most recent compliance certification for Historic Hotels, BlueToad has tested and audited its platform internally as well as with the assistance of a third-party accessibility consultancy. This has been accomplished by manual, human audits using screen-reading technology and supporting tools, as well as algorithmic-based automated tests using scanning software. Because of these efforts, BlueToad has issued a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template® (VPAT®), dated October 3, 2019, which represents a self-assessment and public declaration of a product’s adherence to digital accessibility standards.
With over 40 million people living with a disability in the U.S., according to the U.S. Census, organizations publishing digital content are wisely embracing the need to design and distribute content with inclusivity in mind. BlueToad has spent years making the core elements of its platform compliant, including accounting for screen reader technologies, implementing best coding practices, and modifying navigation and interactive elements throughout the content experience.
To learn more about BlueToad, visit https://bluetoad.com/.