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#GamesUR Summit 2023

2022-2023

Website Assistant - Member of the Committee

As a Website Assistant for the conference "Games UR Summit NA 2023", I diagnosed the accessibility and usability of the 2022 website and recommended measures to improve its redesign.

White Structure

Goals

The summit's team wanted to improve the website's accessibility.

Given my specialization on web accessibility, these were the goals:

  • Understanding its accessibility, diagnosing it according to the WCAG 2.1 level A and AA;

  • Providing recommendations to improve it, including by investigating the industry practices;

  • Contributing to the process of applying it, by writing or recommending HTML and CSS codes.

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This project is not yet finished.

Diagnosing Accessibility

To diagnose the accessibility of the website, I followed the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 level A and AA, and evaluated whether each page was conformant to its criteria, through using manual and automatic checks:

  • HTML and CSS inspection;

  • Screen reader NVDA;

  • Color contrast checker;​

  • WebDev (Chrome Extension)

Excel table depicting which WCAG criteria are followed in a list of pages (Homepage, Sponsors, etc)
Concrete Wall
Concrete Wall
Under the heading "Branding Sponsors", we see Activision User Research's logo. Under it, there's a screenshot of its alt text in the HTML, which says "Activision User Research Logo".

Improving Accessibility

After a thorough diagnosis, I provided recommendations to my lead, such as:

  • Adequate alt text for all images;

  • Adequate heading structures;

  • Color palettes with sufficient color contrast;

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I applied some of these measures, such as:

  • Tagging headings for their correct level;

  • Writing adequate alt text for all images (logos, bio pictures, etc) and adding them to the HTML;

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Most of the measures were implemented, but due to the Wordpress' template's limitations, some will only be implemented in the future - for example, the color contrast.

Improving Usability

During the diagnosis, I identified some possible improvements for the website's navigation structure. I suggested:

  • A different structure for the navigation menu;

  • An FAQ and an Accessibility Statements page, which I drafted and developed in coordination with other teams;

  • Not implemented: an improved footer - From the previous one, which only had a copyright notice and social media icons, to one with hyperlinks for relevant pages.

 

These proposals were based on an investigation of other conference website's practices.

A page footer has two headings with hypertext below, such as: Summit: Sponsors, Speakers, Talks, Program.
Concrete Wall
Concrete Wall
7 headings in which the h2 levels are correctly coded under a respective h1. For instance, h1 How to submit, and under it, h2 Types of Submissions.

Improving SEO

Search Engine Optimization was, for the most part, a positive consequence of accessibility, and it was improved by:

  • Descriptive, brief and consistent titles;

  • Adequate headings and page structure;

  • Adequate alt text.

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Example: No pages had a h1 heading or any organized heading structure. The new redesign is aiming to have all headings in an organized hierarchy. An h1 is essential for Search Engine Optimization.

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