TUC Web Accessibility

BOCC has successfully completed a complete review and implementation of the accessibility for the Trades Union Congress (TUC) website.

The objective was to meet the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) web accessibility initiative (WAI) standards for level 1 / A conformance. BOCC created the back end content management system (CMS) in 2001 and developed a new WAI-A design in 2004. However, content within the design required additional work:

• CMS pages
• interactive forms
• static pages
• legacy template skins
• HTML newsletters

Many double-A and triple-A conformance issues were also addressed at the same time.

Databases and website hosted by BOCC.

August 2005

Ultraseek and K-Broker

Children's charity NCH asked BOCC to provide consultancy and development services to integrate Ultraseek's search engine with their intranet systems.

BOCC worked with NCH to develop a specification for the project, identifying issues and possible solutions to suit NCH's needs. NCH had decided to utilise the K-Broker front end rather than Ultraseek's native interface. The scope of work required BOCC to configure Ultraseek, implement the site design, security and NCH's preferences for operation of the search including set up of the collections and modifications of administrative functions.

Development and test environments were set up at BOCC; the work was installed by BOCC and released to NCH on their own test environment. On completion of extensive testing, the new search was added to the live environment, running in parallel with the current Index Server-based search for final checks, prior to the final switchover.

August 2005

Good News in the Ratings

The monthly local government site report listings has brought good news for BOCC's local council clients. The report, which is run by SiteMorse checks for compliance with web standards.

The SiteMorse report undertakes automated checks concerning World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), e-Government Meta Data Standard (eGMS), search engine meta data, server responsiveness and download times. It is the de-facto website reporting system for local and central government websites.

For example, after BOCC's recent redevelopment of the website for Stratford-on-Avon District Council, the Council found itself in the most enviable position of climbing 249 places in the ratings list (of 459 council websites).

Other clients like West Oxfordshire District Council, Cherwell District Council, Oxford City Council and London Borough of Redbridge continue to achieve high rankings.

July 2005

Website Consultancy

The NHS Confederation approached BOCC to undertake a review of their NHS Employers website and assist with the creation of a technical specification for a new dynamic website using a comprehensive content management system (CMS).

The web team had already begun a review of the requirements and BOCC undertook discussions and consultancy sessions with sections within the organisation. BOCC helped assess the needs and wrote a specification which would provide a content managed feature-rich website and also to advise on the creation of a visual design for the new site. The CMS had to link seamlessly with a member relationship management system, and BOCC's back-office network and integration skills came to the fore.

The specification was used to determine budget costs for the project. The project was subsequently implemented by BOCC.

July 2005