Knowledge is a fundamental right! Therefore, all digital platforms should implement the concept of accessibility to information in any virtual environment containing significant historical, informative as well as daily information.
Since October 2016, the website Accessibility Regulation has enter into force fully and it applies to all web sites, both old and new.
What is website accessibility, according to the Ministry of Justice?
An Accessible Site according to regulations for access to services is a site where adjustments were made according to the Israeli Standard 5568. The Israeli standard is an adaptation of the international Web Content Accessibility Guidelines of the International W3C organization. The accessibility adjustments allow people with disabilities such as the blind and visually impaired, people with physical disabilities who find it difficult to work with their hands, people with cognitive disabilities such as dyslexia and attention deficit disorder, people with hearing disabilities and people with other disabilities, to make effective use of the services and information offered on the site.
For further reading in the Ministry of Justice Site – The Commission for Equal Rights of Persons with Disabilities – see here
For further information about the Israeli Standard SI 5568 : “Web Content Accessibility Guidelines” see here
Accessibility in IDEA’s catalogs and sites
To this end, a cooperation agreement was signed between IDEA and “@-Z International Internet Marketing and Accessibility”, a leading Israeli company in the field of accessibility on the web, and a comprehensive process was conducted for a full customization of IDEA’s products to the accessibility standards.
Hence, a new Accessibility menu was integrated into IDEA’s internet catalog, including all the required elements for compliance with the AA standard, such as: control over the colors and shades of the screen, control the font size and screen magnifiers, labeling of content that is not text, accessible forms, matching the different browsers, accessibility of links texts, support for screen-reading software, and more.
The new menu allows people with disabilities full independence in search of information and implementation of individual actions, and to derive maximum benefit.
Now, with the release of version 8.2, IDEA’s catalog is accessible to all, and our customers (libraries, archives and museums) can reach a whole new audience of users and to expose the contents of their catalogs equally to the entire population. The new menu allows people with disabilities, full independence in search of information and implementation of individual actions and that they are to derive maximum benefit.
In summary, access to information is a social responsibility of all of us and we are doing everything possible to provide our customers with products at the highest level. It is now possible to disclose the contents – books, photos, stories and historical items in the information catalog equally to the entire population.
