The UK's Nationwide Building Society is implementing technology from Watchfire to assess and improve the accessibility of its Internet and intranet sites for all its customers, including those with disabilities.
NationWide will use Watchfire's AccessibilityXM, a core module of the vendor's WebXM package, to automatically test its sites for over 90 comprehensive accessibility checks, and for compliance with the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
US-based Watchfire says Nationwide previously used its desktop standalone accessibility testing tool, Bobby, but recognised that it needed to deploy an enterprise-wide platform to test compliance of all its sites.
Paul Towers, head, electronic channels, Nationwide Building Society, says: "Automated testing is crucial to properly address this issue and AccessibilityXM enables us to save a tremendous amount of time and costs by automating what would normally be a manual process."
David Grant, director of accessibility solutions at Watchfire, warns that failing to provide an accessible Website puts an organisation at risk for everything from litigation and damaged reputation to lost sales.