Bequeathed removes digital accessibility barriers for free wills

Is your website fully accessible for those with disabilities? 

Twenty per cent of people in the UK have a disability*, making it difficult for them to use websites as easily as everybody else.

Software development company Tier 2 Consulting worked closely with Bequeathed – a legacy fundraising company – to help them develop a new inclusive and accessible free will writing service, to remove digital accessibility barriers for those with disabilities.

The service, Will For Good, has been tested and verified for compliance with WCAG 2.1 AA (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), as well as user-tested by people with disabilities,  meaning that anyone with a disability should be able to move through the online journey and fully access the content.

The project involved collaboration between Tier 2, Bequeathed, Hassell Inclusion; who provided expert advice and guidance; and The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).

With accessibility at its foundation, the service ensures all users, including people with a wide range of disabilities, can understand what is on each page and can use the form through to completion.

Features now include:

• Compatibility with digital equipment so that users with accessibility tools can access the website, including screen readers and keyboards.
• Zooming features.
• All landmarks on the site can be read aloud and correctly, including images.

Watch the below videos where Graham from Hassell Inclusion demonstrates some key features:

• Colours, contrast, and resizing 
• Keyboard accessibility
• Using a screen reader

Andy Kennedy, Managing Director at Tier 2 Consulting, said:

“We have a number of long-standing customers and have worked with the founder of Bequeathed, Jon Brewer, for over 10 years. This project has seen us built upon our existing technical skills and knowledge of Bequeathed systems to deliver a new accessible will-writing capability. This is a great example of our partnership approach with customers, working closely with Hassell Inclusion, RNIB, and Bequeathed, to deliver web applications with accessibility at its core.

“We now have a team of developers and testers who have built applications to a AA accessibility standard – including forms, checkboxes, and interactive elements – and can offer this service to other companies wishing to make their sites fully accessible.”

Jon Brewer, Founder and CEO of Bequeathed said:

“It’s so important that everyone has a will, to ensure the people and causes they care about are looked after – and I mean everyone, no matter if they have a disability or not.”

“Initially we were focused on making our online process accessible for people with sight loss. But by working with digital accessibility consultants Hassell Inclusion, we expanded this to include people with, for example, motor impairments, autism and dyslexia, as well as older people. Accessibility is now embedded into the culture of our fundraising company and we’ll continue to work on improving the user experience for everyone.”

Fifty-nine per cent of UK adults** do not have a will. The Will For Good service allows people to make a free will and support charitable causes. The Will For Good scheme raises money for good causes by offering individuals the opportunity to make a will and encouraging them to include a gift to their favourite charities. The free will includes 30 minutes of advice from a legal firm, giving users, and their families, peace of mind.

Tier 2 Consulting work in partnership with their customers to understand their business challenges, and deliver custom software solutions using modern, open-source, cloud-native technology and an agile project approach.