Paranet, the information platform of the Swiss Paraplegics Group, now provides barrierfree access to its website based on the Content Management System CONTENS, thus helping people with disabilities to use the site.
The universally unique solidarity network for paraplegics makes it easy for people with disabilities to use Paranet's website (www.paranet.ch). For the redesign of its web presence, the organisation placed their focus on web accessibility. The multilingual website's content, for example, can be read by software to people with decreased vision acuity or can be displayed in larger print.
The platform's menu structure divides content into the main areas of the Swiss Paraplegics Foundation, the Benefactors Association, the Swiss Paraplegics Centre, the Swiss Paraplegic Research, and the Paraplegics Association. The five key sections are clearly and logically organized, thus making it easy for visitors to navigate the site. By means of an integrated medical directory, doctors and qualified personnel are quickly and easily found and can optionally be sorted by specialty or alphabet. Contact forms on all subpages provide for direct and simplified communication with the Paraplegics Group. An integrated event calendar informs users about current events of the organization sorted by subjects or categories.
It is especially helpful for people with disabilities that important navigation points such as the contact page or the search function can be activated through keyboard shortcuts. Therefore, www.paranet.ch includes easytouse hot keys for important pages of the website. Since images might constitute a barrier for visually disabled people, explanatory alternative texts provide helpful support for comprehension. To rule out disadvantages for visually disabled users, a navigation consisting of images or flash objects was deliberately avoided.
The Paraplegics Group not only realized a barrierfree online platform with the Content Management System CONTENS, but also considerably reduced administrative efforts for the website's editors. Luciano Pangari, Head of Visual Communications, was particularly pleased with the efficient way of editing platform content: "With CONTENS we not only met our requirements for the website's usability, but now also use intuitively applicable software, which does not require any programming knowledge and improves our online communication."
The project was realized by the Swiss CONTENS partner nextage.
About Paranet
Over 1,100 colleagues from 80 different vocational backgrounds do extraordinary work every day to help people with spinal paralysis in the Swiss Paraplegic Foundation and its eight subsidiaries and sister organisations. Around one and a half million people in over 1 million homes pay their annual membership subscription as members of the Benefactors' Association of the Swiss Paraplegic Foundation, thereby creating the financial foundations not only for maintaining the holistic rehabilitation and integral network of services for paraplegics and tetraplegics, but also for developing these services consistently. Over a billion Swiss francs have been raised in benefactors' contributions, donations and inheritances since the Foundation was established.
About nextage
Destination Future - Since its beginning, nextage has developed individual internet solutions for medium- and largescale enterprises in various industries. In addition to conventional project services, they have also developed their own products. That's how the webcast and live streaming product nextage.live was born, revolutionizing the online communication from a marketing perspective. With the inhouse core competencies consulting, design, and technology, nextage develops projects in many different areas of online communication. nextage solutions include websites, CMS projects, webcasts, streaming, newsletters, applications, and shops.
The universally unique solidarity network for paraplegics makes it easy for people with disabilities to use Paranet's website (www.paranet.ch). For the redesign of its web presence, the organisation placed their focus on web accessibility. The multilingual website's content, for example, can be read by software to people with decreased vision acuity or can be displayed in larger print.
The platform's menu structure divides content into the main areas of the Swiss Paraplegics Foundation, the Benefactors Association, the Swiss Paraplegics Centre, the Swiss Paraplegic Research, and the Paraplegics Association. The five key sections are clearly and logically organized, thus making it easy for visitors to navigate the site. By means of an integrated medical directory, doctors and qualified personnel are quickly and easily found and can optionally be sorted by specialty or alphabet. Contact forms on all subpages provide for direct and simplified communication with the Paraplegics Group. An integrated event calendar informs users about current events of the organization sorted by subjects or categories.
It is especially helpful for people with disabilities that important navigation points such as the contact page or the search function can be activated through keyboard shortcuts. Therefore, www.paranet.ch includes easytouse hot keys for important pages of the website. Since images might constitute a barrier for visually disabled people, explanatory alternative texts provide helpful support for comprehension. To rule out disadvantages for visually disabled users, a navigation consisting of images or flash objects was deliberately avoided.
The Paraplegics Group not only realized a barrierfree online platform with the Content Management System CONTENS, but also considerably reduced administrative efforts for the website's editors. Luciano Pangari, Head of Visual Communications, was particularly pleased with the efficient way of editing platform content: "With CONTENS we not only met our requirements for the website's usability, but now also use intuitively applicable software, which does not require any programming knowledge and improves our online communication."
The project was realized by the Swiss CONTENS partner nextage.
About Paranet
Over 1,100 colleagues from 80 different vocational backgrounds do extraordinary work every day to help people with spinal paralysis in the Swiss Paraplegic Foundation and its eight subsidiaries and sister organisations. Around one and a half million people in over 1 million homes pay their annual membership subscription as members of the Benefactors' Association of the Swiss Paraplegic Foundation, thereby creating the financial foundations not only for maintaining the holistic rehabilitation and integral network of services for paraplegics and tetraplegics, but also for developing these services consistently. Over a billion Swiss francs have been raised in benefactors' contributions, donations and inheritances since the Foundation was established.
About nextage
Destination Future - Since its beginning, nextage has developed individual internet solutions for medium- and largescale enterprises in various industries. In addition to conventional project services, they have also developed their own products. That's how the webcast and live streaming product nextage.live was born, revolutionizing the online communication from a marketing perspective. With the inhouse core competencies consulting, design, and technology, nextage develops projects in many different areas of online communication. nextage solutions include websites, CMS projects, webcasts, streaming, newsletters, applications, and shops.
