Welcome to the beginners & intermediate level accessible website design course where you will learn both the techniques of accessible website design and an entire ‘framework for thinking about the subject’. This course will equip you with the skills to understand, identify and fix issues any accessibility issues you come across.

After you have completed the course you will have the skills you need to build and maintain accessible websites - websites that will pass the WCAG 2.1 guidelines up to AA level. WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the level most governments and organisations use as part of their legislation. You will gain a deep understanding of what accessible website design means.

My name is Jim Byrne - and I will be your guide throughout the course. I am an awarding winning accessibility specialist & website designer - with over 25 years of experience. I set up one of the UK’s first website accessibility consultancies in 1996 - called, The Making Connections Unit (MCU). The impetus for setting up the unit was my experience of working with disabled people within a project called The Wellbeing Initiative. It was there that I saw first hand the barriers and discrimination that disabled people have to put up with every day. After setting up the MCU - I then set up my own accessible website design business in 2003.

I have worked with national & local government, the private sector, corporate clients, Further Education, and the not-for-profit sector. My experience includes publishing books, guides, training courses, and giving feedback on a draft of the WCAG 2 guidelines - which I did as Director of the Guild of Accessible Website Designers.

You will hear disabled people explaining and demonstrating how they browse websites.

There are lots of course bonuses to download, including my 111-page website accessibility e-book, the audio from the course (to listen to at a time of your choosing), all the slides, and much more.

You will learn about the medical and social models of disability and what they mean for your approach to designing accessible websites.

You will learn how people with different impairments access the web, i.e. deaf & hearing impairment, blind & visually impaired, physical impairments, and people with learning difficulties. You will learn the tools and techniques they use and what that means in terms of ensuring websites are accessible.

You will learn techniques for making non-text content accessible. i.e. images, videos, how to ensure your links are accessible, how to ensure your tables are accessible. how to ensure your forms are accessible.

You will get access to real examples of screen reader use, and an example of captions being added to a video.

You will learn how HTML documents are structured and how that structure is fundamental to ensuring websites are accessible.

You willlearn about the history and development of the WCAG 2.1 guidelines. You will learn what the levels mean (A, AA, AAA compliance) and the concepts that the latest version of the guidelines are based on. I translate the concepts into easy to understand language.

You will learn the basics of ARIA is and how you can use it to make dynamic content accessible.

The course is aimed mainly at beginners to the subject of accessible website design - but all website developers - whatever their level of experience - will learn from this course.

If if you want to learn accessible website design I sincerely believe the course I have developed is the one for you. I’ve put a lot of work into making it the best I could make it. Have a look at some of my free videos and register today to get started. I look forward to seeing you on the course. :-)