Why accessibility matters to us

As a socially conscious start-up on a mission to solve a societal problem, we have a natural and fundamental belief in equity and inclusion. This is reflected in how we operate Harker as a business, with accreditations like Disability Confident Leader and RNIB Visibly Better Employer. However, until recently, we’ve neglected to address how we make sure our products are accessible to all users. We understand that if we want to deliver a complete software solution for the homelessness sector, it needs to be useable for those with a range of access needs, which may range from disabled users with assistive software like screen-readers, to non-disabled users who may be elderly and have less steady hands, for example.

The commercial side

Beyond the moral view, there’s a commercial need for our software to be compliant with WCAG standards, as we plan to sell to local authorities in the future, who have a legal requirement to ensure all their tools are WCAG compliant. It’s much cheaper and easier to make software accessible at an early stage, rather than having to change it all down the line, so spending time on accessibility now is a worthwhile investment.

Working with ClearCreator

While we had some knowledge on the basics of web accessibility (alt text, colour contrast etc.), we weren’t experts by any means. This is why we worked with Hannah from ClearCreator, a Liverpool-based accessibility consultant who specialises in digital accessibility at start-up and scale-up companies. Hannah first started by undertaking an accessibility audit of our existing platform, identifying both good and bad practice, and most importantly our areas of weakness.

From there, we had a good understanding of things we could do immediately to address accessibility flaws, but also we discussed how ownership over accessibility in our development team, i.e., who actually makes sure the code is tested for accessibility. This means that we’re embedding accessibility considerations and testing throughout our software development moving forward, right from the get-go rather than an afterthought.

When you’re focussed on building your software in a fast-paced start-up environment, accessibility can quickly become one of those ‘nice to haves’ - but it shouldn’t be like this. Hannah created the space and time for us to sit down and address this, which is sometimes what’s needed to make sure things actually get done!

Our message to others

We highly encourage tech companies in our network to dedicate the time to considering the accessibility of their software, and ClearCreator can support by creating that space and filling in that crucial expertise gap. You can get in touch with ClearCreator via their website here and if you’d like to see the new and accessible Harker platform, book in a demo today!