Driving Digital Accessibility: Our Mission Update

At Jadu, our mission to become the most accessible platform in the world continues to inspire and drive us forward. Accessibility is at the core of everything we do, and we’re proud to share our recent achievements in creative development, engineering, training, and advocacy. Here’s a detailed look at how we’re progressing:

Creative efforts

Our creative teams have been working to enhance accessibility across our products and services. Significant improvements have been made to the accessibility of many themes, widgets, and modules, ensuring that our platform remains inclusive by design according to WCAG 2.2. Each theme underwent intensive WCAG 2.2 audits and subsequent fixes to ensure it is fully WCAG 2.2 AA compliant throughout.

Through our continued partnerships, accessibility improvements have been achieved for many customer organisations, helping to create more inclusive digital experiences for their communities. These include Rochdale Borough Council, Ribble Valley Borough Council, Dartford Borough Council, Runnymede Borough Council, and others, who have all risen on the Silktide Accessibility Index for UK Local Authorities this quarter.

On a global scale, three Jadu-powered or hosted platforms now rank as the top Australian Local Councils on the Silktide Index in Australia: Logan City Council, Bundaberg Regional Council, and North Sydney Council. Over in the United States, Wasatch County Government (Utah) recently achieved a remarkable milestone by securing the top spot among over 3,000 U.S. county government websites for accessibility, rising from 1,385th to 1st in November 2024. This achievement not only reflects the county's commitment to inclusivity but also demonstrates the effectiveness of Jadu Central (integrated with Hyland) in delivering highly accessible digital experiences.

Further ongoing updates to Jadu.net and the Jadu Library are also underway, with additional enhancements planned to improve accessibility resources for all users in the coming months.

Engineering and product development

Our engineering teams remain intensely focused on embedding accessibility into every aspect of our platform. Extensive audits are being conducted, leading to numerous accessibility improvements for the Jadu Control Centre. This work is still ongoing but helps us to ensure the Control Centre meets the highest accessibility standards moving forwards. Meanwhile, Jadu Labs is exploring new accessibility features. Recent additions to the new extension include advanced options for custom font and colour schemes and dyslexia support, providing users with greater control over their digital experiences. If you haven’t yet, download the Jadu Labs extension. 

Accessibility audits

Accessibility audits are critical to our work, helping our customers globally maintain compliance and inclusivity. This quarter, numerous audits have been conducted to ensure that customer websites and content meet WCAG 2.2 standards. These audits offer valuable insights and actionable recommendations for improving accessibility, allowing our customers to align with the latest guidelines and create more inclusive digital environments. Learn more about getting an accessibility audit.

Training and development

At Jadu, education and empowerment are essential for driving meaningful change. Our internal teams continue to benefit from new starter training and periodic refresher courses, ensuring everyone remains up-to-date on accessibility best practices. We have also continued our internal accessibility champions sessions, which bring together people from all over the organisation to discuss and learn about topics and commonly seen issues in their departments.

We are in the process of designing comprehensive accessibility checklists, which we look forward to sharing soon as practical guides for implementing accessible designs and content.

Plans are also in motion to arrange user testing sessions in the new year, providing invaluable feedback to ensure our solutions work seamlessly for all users - more on this coming soon.

Additionally, we are expanding our accessibility training programmes to include more opportunities for customers and partners, recognising the importance of collaborative efforts in driving inclusion.

Advocacy and outreach

We’re committed to leading the conversation around accessibility and sharing our insights with the wider community. Our accessibility efforts have been showcased in the Jadu Academy, including a presentation by James Jacobs, Head of Accessibility at Jadu, highlighting our mission and progress, as well as 2024 customer successes and industry updates. At the TechShare Pro conference, James hosted a “lunch and learn” session focused on building a culture of accessibility along with Catriona Morrison, Accessibility Specialist at Jadu, and participated in an accessibility champions panel with panellists from HSBC, Ministry of Justice, AbilityNet, Intuit and Stepstone.

These events provided valuable opportunities to share knowledge and collaborate with industry peers. Internally, Adi Latif, Freelance Accessibility and Inclusive Design Consultant, spoke at a board meeting to emphasise the importance of accessibility as a strategic priority. By addressing accessibility from both top-down and bottom-up perspectives, we’re ensuring it is embedded across all levels of our organisation.

Looking ahead

We continue to focus on accessibility and driving change within not just our business but the wider community, but we know there is still much more to be done. Looking ahead, we plan to expand our accessibility audits and enhancements, launch new training resources for both customers and partners, expand our user testing initiatives, and continue supporting our customers and partners in their accessibility journeys. We will also advocate for accessibility through conferences, whitepapers, and community engagement. We're also focusing on improving our internal training courses and formalising a programme for our accessibility champions group, ensuring our team is fully trained on all aspects of accessibility.

We’re excited to keep pushing boundaries and making a difference. Together, we can build a more inclusive digital future. Stay tuned for our next update as we continue this important journey.