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GoReact, makers of a video-based skill-training platform used in the classroom, today announced that their software meets the AA standard of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
Since its inception, GoReact software has catered to a wide audience of users. Any kind of teacher, coach, or mentor can use GoReact to help students improve their communication skills, presentations, visual projects, or performances. Having AA WCAG in place not only improves the platform’s user experience, but also improves GoReact’s accessibility, particularly for users with disabilities.
According to W3C, WCAG compliance has “a goal of proving a single shared standard for web content accessibility that meets the needs of individuals, organizations, and governments internationally.” WCAG’s guidelines fall into five broad categories: color contrast, labeling, error displays, keyboard navigation, and closed captioning. Achieving the AA level of WCAG 2.0 compliance required GoReact to add increased accessibility features above its previous single-A level.
“WCAG compliance exists to make the Web easier to use and simple to navigate,” said Hyrum Denney, GoReact’s Product/UX Manager. “The WCAG 2.0 standards—and particularly the AA level—allow people with accessibility needs to get the most value out of GoReact’s awesome features. In fact, all of our users will benefit from the improved experience of the AA level of WCAG 2.0.”
GoReact’s development team spent three months updating the platform to make sure all labels and error messages were perfectly clear. All color contrast is now up to WCAG standards, and the user’s cursor will be much easier to locate on the screen. Users can also navigate pages using only the tab key.
These changes may sound deceptively minimal, but their effects for many users will be significant. Users with dyslexia, color-blindness, stroke symptoms, and many other physical and neurological challenges will now be able to use GoReact with ease. Blind users can also navigate GoReact now that the platform is optimized for audio screen readers.
Typically, only government organizations, government-funded companies, or larger businesses are compliant with WCAG 2.0. Because GoReact frequently serves large educational organizations, the company felt that now was the right time to adopt a AA compliance level to better assist their customers.
Beyond accessibility, GoReact’s compliance also protects its customers from legal risk. Failure to adhere to website compliance standards can result in costly lawsuits like Target’s $6 million fine for failing to make their website accessible to blind users. The benefits of WCAG compliance are essentially two-fold: avoiding the risk of expensive fines while also eliminating user difficulties. Organizations can adopt GoReact with confidence, knowing that the platform has both superior functionality and legal protection for online accessibility.
“GoReact’s entire team is proud that our product is AA WCAG 2.0 compliant,” said Ben Schmuhl, CTO of GoReact. “Our company mission is to help customers achieve their goals of rapid skill develop and communication skills improvement. WCAG compliance only increases our ability to offer video coaching to a more diverse audience than ever before. Now all of our users can enjoy GoReact in the most simple, accessible, and successful way possible.”
GoReact was originally developed at Brigham Young University and pioneered live in-class presentation feedback using its patent-pending sync technology. Today, GoReact is the premier platform for video-based skill development across many disciplines, simplifying the lives of instructors and coaches who use video to improve performance-based skills for their students. For more information, visit goreact.com.
