News

Accessibility in a nutshell

• 30th May, 2007

Hiltonian Media has produced a free white paper providing a succinct overview of Web accessibility and its benefits. Richard Hilton, proprietor of Hiltonian Media, had this to say:

Social inclusion has been part of British culture for a long time; unfortunately, this is not quite so true of the Web. The majority of websites don't even comply with minimal accessibility guidelines, let alone provide disabled surfers with an equal experience.

Aside from legal compliance and eliminating discrimination, Web accessibility has many compelling benefits. This white paper aims to educate decision-makers so that one day, the Web will be an inclusive place.

The white paper, entitled “Is your website legal?” can be downloaded for free in PDF format.

Legal & General make strong business case for accessibility

• 9th March, 2007

UK financial services company Legal & General have seen increased sales of up to 300% since deploying an accessible website, according to a recent article in IT-Analysis.com. Compared to their old website, the figures stack up against the common perception that Web accessibility is a financial burden.

According to the article,

The results make a strong business case for accessibility:

• Take up of some financial products via the site increased by 300%
• Maintenance costs were reduced by 66%
• Natural search improved by 50%
• Customers reported that the site looked and performed better
• The number of users who accessed the home page and then left the site reduced by 10%
• The number of complaints about the inaccessibility of the web site fell to zero

[…] These benefits should be attractive to any CEO, CIO or Marketing Director even if they are not convinced about, or do not understand, the importance of access for disabled people.

This clearly shows the potential benefits of maintaining an accessible and well-structured website. Whilst the needs of the disabled user are clearly of primary concern, the positive effects on the user-base as a whole should not be underestimated when considering the business case for accessibility.

In addition, maintenance costs can be significantly reduced and more people are likely to find your website in the first place, thanks to accessible development techniques.

Hiltonian Media can help you get the most from your website with a range of Web accessibility services, from consultancy and audits through to design and implementation.

New website for Durham Cathedral

• 7th September, 2006

The Chapter of Durham and Hiltonian Media are pleased and proud to announce the creation of a new website for Durham Cathedral, the Shrine of St Cuthbert.

The website has a fresh new look and contains significantly more information than the previous version. Whether you come to the Cathedral regularly or are hoping to explore it for the first time, the website should provide you with the information you need.

The developer, Richard Hilton, owner of Hiltonian Media, says:

It was a delight to win the contract to develop the website of this prestigious building which I have come to love during my time as a student at Durham University and recently as a volunteer steward. The website has been designed to be as accessible as possible to people with varying disabilities who may use assistive technologies to access the information.

Canon Rosalind Brown says:

We are delighted with our new web site and hope it proves to be useful to people around the world. We have taken the opportunity to include an introduction to the Christian faith as well as to our beautiful building and lively community, and hope that it will inspire you to visit us whether or not you share our Christian faith.

Anne Heywood, Chapter Steward says:

We know that people from all over the world use websites to plan their itineraries and now, through the new website, we can provide them with the information they need as well as an insight into the daily life of this very busy working church. Regular updates allow the many people who come here each year to keep in touch, whether local or from further afield.

Notes to Editors

The website address is www.durhamcathedral.co.uk.

The development of the website was part funded by Business Link County Durham.

An estimated 600,000 people come to the Cathedral each year. We know that a significant number of these will have used the website to gain information prior to visiting. There is no charge to enter the building but we do ask for a donation.

Hiltonian Media (founded in 1999) is a web development company based in Morpeth, Northumberland specialising in creating accessible websites for businesses and organisations of all sizes. Further details may be obtained from Richard Hilton by contacting Hiltonian Media.

Further information may be obtained from Anne Heywood by contacting the Cathedral.

Triple Diskspace on Hosting Packages!

• 27th March, 2006

Hiltonian Media are pleased to offer customers three times the storage space on all hosting accounts in addition to performance increases and some new features. This is all due to a major systems upgrade carried out over the last few days.

New features include virus scanning and spam filtering of emails. Customers wishing to take advantage of these should contact us to discuss configuration options to suit your needs.

Our backup systems are now located in a completely separate datacentre to provide a resilient email service in the event of a major system failure. A range of backup website options will be launched in the coming months - stay tuned!

Hiltonian Media launches new website

• 2nd July, 2005

Hiltonian Media have recently launched a new website which better reflects the quality and dynamism of the Hiltonian Media brand. The new website is designed to be more aesthetically pleasing, usable and accessible than the previous incarnation.

As part of our drive towards accessible websites, which can be enjoyed by those who use atypical web browsers such as screen readers, the new Hiltonian Media website has been designed in such a way that it can be used just as easily by disabled users.