Ohio Ins. Dept. Upgrades Website for Disabled Accessibility

Ohio Department of Insurance Director Lee Covington announced that the Department’s website has been upgraded to meet international standards for accessibility by the disabled.

“Every Ohioan needs to be able to benefit from the information available on the Department’s website,” Covington stated. “We have been able to remove some technological barriers so that people with disabilities can utilize this information resource.”

The bulletin noted that the Department’s website, www.ohioinsurance.gov, has earned “an “A” rating from Bobby, a comprehensive website accessibility software tool designed to expose barriers to accessibility and encourage compliance with existing accessibility guidelines.”

In evaluating accessibility Bobby takes into consideration sight limitations such as color blindness or difficulty seeing small fonts, and also checks sites for their readability by computer programs that “read” web page content for the blind. Websites meeting the appropriate criteria may display a Bobby icon on their websites. It was created in 1996 by the Center for Applied Special Technology, an educational, not-for-profit organization that uses technology to expand opportunities for people with disabilities. “Earlier this year it was purchased by for-profit company,” said the announcement.

The Insurance Department site averages more than 15,000 visitors per week, according to the bulletin, and last year won a “Standard of Excellence Award from the Web Marketing Association for its design, innovation, content, technology, interactivity, and navigation standards. In 2000, the Consumer Federation of America also awarded the site an ‘A’ rating.”

Topics Ohio