2024 has been a busy year for the HeX Productions team and we wouldn’t have it any other way. In this article, we’re wrapping up the year, sharing how we’ve supported our clients with the extensive digital accessibility solutions that we provide.
HeX is a digital agency with a difference. Not only do we provide a complete end to end solution to assist organisations with their design and development needs, our team are leaders in the industry when it comes to digital accessibility. This means that no matter what project we undertake, it will be crafted with inclusivity being at its core.
Whether it’s:
- developing websites to be accessible for everyone to access
- ensuring marketing and design work is user-friendly
- sharing our knowledge through training to upskill in-house teams
- transforming fellow web agency output through inclusive consultancy
- performing manual usability testing with assistive technologies
- raising awareness and providing top tips through our social media channels
It isn’t just a tick box exercise for our passionate team. Together, our combined specialist skills help in shaping an inclusive digital world. This year has been no different, with our services empowering over 40 organisations to put digital accessibility at their heart.
Supporting pioneering educational institutions to become digital accessible
Over the past 10 years, HeX has made a name for itself in the industry for the extensive accessibility support that we’ve provided in higher education.
Our expert web development team has been working tirelessly throughout 2024 to help bridge the accessibility gap. We’re excited to soon be launching a new striking website for Trinity Specialist College, which has been inclusively designed to ensure that all current and prospective students can gain instant access to their sleek platform. Being built to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 standards, has ensured that the College meets public sector legislation, so all students can intuitively and fluently flow through the site, no matter what device or software they use.
Our developers have gone the extra mile this year, creating an inspiring series of bespoke microsites for both Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and Homefield College, which provide a seamless experience for their users. This, along with providing ongoing robust accessibility and development support for the likes of Winchester University, the University of Nottingham, and being the preferred contractor to support Terminalfour with their accessibility and development needs.
June saw the launch of our ‘Education 4 All’ campaign. This two-week awareness raising mission brought influencers and educators together to spread the word about the need for inclusive education.
During this time:
- Students and teachers shared what challenges prevent disabled students from having the same opportunities as their peers.
- Experts provided best practices on how to remove barriers through digital accessibility.
- Educators gave top tips on the technology that they find most effective within the classroom.
- We took our accessibility empathy lab on the road to both schools and educational conferences to show first-hand what students experience when websites and learning resources aren’t created in an inclusive and user-friendly way.
In turn, helping to raise awareness to create a learning environment where all students can thrive and reach their full potential.
Accessible web development projects
2024, has seen an array of standout projects for our front-end developers to really get stuck into, from a range of diverse clients. We began the year launching a data-driven and user-friendly digital space for Health Equity. This platform was inclusively-built to generate innovative insights for addressing inequalities in and through primary care.
HeX’s bespoke expert coding has enabled users to swiftly locate key information and presented users with explorable data through a variety of attractive, accessible, and informative methods. Health Equity now has a sleek and modern, responsive platform, with usability at the forefront.
After previously assisting the Employer’s Network for Equality & Inclusion (enei) with a new accessible website, we secured another exciting venture with the team. This time, the development of an enhanced benchmarking self-assessment tool, named TIDE, to help organisations embed and sustain an inclusive workplace culture. Being experts in accessible web development, our team built an advanced system, maximising the use of WordPress’ Formidable Forms plugin. This utilised advanced custom fields and templates, all powered by bespoke PHP coding. All of which was created within a tight timeframe, providing a simplified and consumable benchmarking tool for users. In November, our team were proud sponsors of enei’s Excellence Awards. The team celebrated in London with amazing organisations who have strived to make their organisations more inclusive. For those about to embark on this important EDI journey throughout 2025 and beyond, it will be on this new HeX-built benchmarking system.
We currently have two exciting development projects underway for the agency Bulletin. Set to launch before the year is out will be an academic and financial website we’re looking forward to sharing with you. With further websites to be launched in 2025 for destination platforms for Newark & Sherwood District Council (NSDC), featuring eye-catching sites for ‘What’s On’ in the area and the NSDC Castle attraction. We’ll also be hard at work consolidating three Sexual Health Services platforms into one overarching main hub for Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. Keep an eye out for further details on these exciting ventures over the coming months.
Our inclusive training was flying high with the Royal Air Force (RAF)
HeX was proud to assist the RAF with accessibility training earlier in the year. This enlightening training helped to raise awareness with the RAF Digby team on why digital accessibility is of paramount importance for organisations. We gave powerful insights through talks, engaging media, and fully utilising the interactive empathy lab equipment to empower the team. Focusing on key elements, such as inclusive content creation, has enabled the team to prioritise digital accessibility throughout all of their internal and external communication output. In turn, arming the force with an inclusive approach.
Performing robust audit testing to seek out website accessibility errors
Along with performing lots of free accessibility health checks this year, it was great to see so many organisations seeking full audit testing of their websites.
To name a few businesses who aimed to prioritise digital accessibility, enhancing their services for customers and clients were:
- Chainalsyis
- Bloom & Wild
- Confluence
- Sherwood Forest Hospital
- Twenty20
- Romo
All underwent our full accessibility audit testing process. This meant that the businesses had:
- Automated scans
- Manual users checks with assistive technology devices and software
- Expert technical reviews of their codebase
- Content audit, assessing the platform’s usability and readability
These full and unique audits formed a comprehensive report of any discovered errors. Experts then performed live demonstrations with the teams to show why these issues impact their online audience. All businesses now have a clear roadmap of required changes in order to be inclusive and meet web standards.
Let’s work together to make 2025 the most inclusive yet
HeX are proud to have supported so many amazing organisations across 2024 and are looking forward to assisting more in becoming inclusive in 2025.
If you are prioritising digital accessibility in the New Year and need guidance on how to do so, get in touch with our experts. Visit our services page to find out how we can assist your organisation and your website visitors with our end-to-end accessibility solutions.
The HeX team wishes you a very Happy Christmas and an inclusive New Year.
