Yes, accessible websites can be attractive!

by Nov 22, 2018Web0 comments

Last week Edu Net Solutions launched Marion Primary School’s brand new website. Our team enjoyed collaborating with the school executive, who supported us by providing excellent content for their website. Now published, this website serves as a wonderful example of how an accessible website can be attractive. Balancing accessibility with visual aesthetics is a topic I began to discuss several weeks ago in this blog: Are accessible websites less attractive?

Let me demonstrate why the Marion Primary School is such a great example. The first thing I wish to point out is that every page passes the colour contrast accessibility validator and was built with several accessibility features mentioned on previous blogs . Now, click on ‘Home’ and ‘About Us- History’. On both these pages, you will see photographs of beautifully made mosaics. Not only are these pieces visually appealing, but they also tell a story.

The mosaics were completed in 2016 as a school arts project for the newly established garden. This space was designed to reflect the coastal, temperate and arid zones of South Australia. Students formed groups and each one created small pieces, which were later set into the meeting circle located in the front garden. Meanwhile, larger mosaics were also made to line the garden’s pathway. These are highly symbolic; each one reflects relationships between the different South Australian environments and creatures, large and small, real and imagined. The mosaic story links into the broader vision of Marion Primary School — to help their students grow into individual who will be resilient and respect others and their environment.

I strongly believe that unwelcome animation, over-edited photos do not make a website more attractive. Good and relevant content does. As the Marion Primary School website example shows, well-selected artistic photos can provide a delicate and personal touch, while also serving to introduce the user to the narratives that are central to a business, organisation, or in this case, a school.

I must confess I felt lucky when asked to create Marion Primary School new website and include such wonderful mosaics in its design.

Thank you, Cheryl and the Marion Primary School Community for choosing Edu Net Solutions to create your website.

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