Business & Decision, the international consulting and systems integration company (CSI), specializing in Business Intelligence, Customer Relationship Management and E-Business has received a "Gold label" certifying the accessibility of its website for their e-Business agency in Grenoble, Business & Decision Interactive Eolas, on 26 January 2007.

The Business & Decision e-Business agency, Business & Decision Interactive Eolas offers recognized and proven expertise in hosting and web-marketing, and is a market driving force in the digital accessibility domain. The agency conceives, develops and hosts public and private websites taking accessibility into account. It also adapts existing Internet sites to comply with digital accessibility standards.

Why accessibility?

According to Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web, accessibility "makes the Web and its services available to all individuals, regardless of material and software, network infrastructures, native languages, cultures, geographical locations, or physical and mental restrictions."

The majority of Web sites and Web tools have accessibility constraints that renders it difficult or impossible for a large number of internet users to access. The Web is a very important resource that covers all areas: education, careers, government, commerce, health, etc. An accessible website allows all internet browsers, including handicapped people with the assistance of special navigators, to easily access content.

Today, accessibility offers unprecedented access to information on the Internet. Given the vast number of sites and Web tools, handicapped people can use the Web and contribute in a more effective manner. For the non-handicapped good accessibility helps facilitate everyday internet use. It is the responsibility of website managers to recognise any barriers that limit access to the information they communicate or the services they make available online. Everyone can benefit from improved accessibility. It has been suggested by a number of research groups, that after a certain amount of time (estimated at 4 seconds), users will close a particular web page. Accessibility issues are even more prevalent on e-commerce and vendor websites.

Additionally, accessibility will soon become a legal obligation in the public sector. The law regarding equal opportunities intends for "all public and assimilated websites from the publication of the decree planned for the mid-2007, a minimum standard of accessibility, endorsed by the Braillenet and the Direction Générale de la Modernisation de l'Etat (DGME) association.

Business & Decision Interactive Eolas at the heart of accessibility

As well as being a market leader in digital accessibility, Business & Decision Interactive Eolas apply's the same principals to its own digital communications. This has been the case since March 2005, when it received its first "Gold" certification for its www.eolas.fr website. At the time, this level of accessibility had never been achieved in France by an internet agency. In January 2007, the agency obtained a second certification for its internet site. Business & Decision Interactive Eolas has already enabled a number of clients to obtain certifications for their websites. Today one site in every three that obtains a certification has been created by Business & Decision. Additionally, 50% of sites labelled as "gold", that is they comply with AccessiWeb recommendations; have been developed by Business & Decision.

Amongst all the sites created by Business & Decision, the Grand Chalon website was the first public site to be granted the « gold » label for accessibility. "Our site was the first French public website to obtain the Gold label by AccessibWeb. No mean feat! This is our way of contributing to the reduction in digital fragmentation..." commented Dominique Juillot, Maire de Mercurey and President of Grand Chalon.

The official portal of the Région Languedoc-Roussillon, also developed by the agency, has earned the AccessiWeb label, at the gold level, by complying with international accessibility standards on their web pages. Languedoc-Roussillon was the first regional portal to acquire this label. " Encouraging usability for handicapped people in all aspects of their social life is one of our priorities; the Région Languedoc-Roussillon makes its website accessible to all users, including the visually impaired and blind," declared the Conseil Régional.

Sandrine Delobelle, Communications Manager for the City of Meylan, commented : "This approach is in line with the politics of the city, which take into account (prior to the February 2005 law), the issues of accessibility and usability when planning for new construction projects and the renovation of buildings and existing structures, especially for transport and public spaces. It is a logical progression to extend this policy to the cyber domain and offer accessibility on information and services to everyone. Business & Decision Interactive Eolas has played the role of facilitator for this project, enabling it to overcome accessibility constraints in order to obtain gold certification for the city."

Orod Bagheri, Manager of NTIC of CG38 explained "For us, accessibility was a problem since we created our site. Because of its decentralization, the problem was emphasized even more. Each department is responsible for the autonomy of its people. Based on European criteria, this certification enables us to gain recognition abroad, on a European scale."

Christine Charignon, Director of Development Marketing (DDM) at SEMITAG, commented "the grenobloise urban area is at the forefront of accessibility regarding urbanism, public transportation and new technologies. At the moment, 80% of the bus and tramway network is accessible, and in less than two years 100% accessibility will be achieved.  The Syndicat Mixte des Transports en Commun (SMTC) will invest strongly in developing accessibility for the urban transport network: accessible stops, single-floor buses,  developing pedestrian areas to guide visually impaired and blind people for vehicle access, vocal synthesis of information in vehicles, a specific PMR service (people with reduced mobility), reduced fares, etc. It is therefore imperitive that the Sémitag continues to redeveloping its website to enable accessibility. It is a matter of respect and upholding the universal right to information". On the day of certification, Pierre Paillard, of the DDM's computer graphics service expressed his satisfaction, "It is great, I can't find the words to say how happy I am."

How to evaluate the accessibility of a site?

In view of economic and social stakes, every enterprise or organization that has a presence on the internet cannot ignore the issue of accessibility. However the facts are there: very few websites are certified today, and more disturbing still, the large majority of websites do not take into account the most basic principals of accessibility.

So what is the reason for this? Very few website managers know how to proceed with conforming to accessibility principals; to justify an accessibility policy to their teams, to evaluate the cost and to specify the approaches to adopt.

Business & Decision Interactive Eolas has developed a packaged service, AccessiPass, making accessibility diagnostics widely available. On the basis of these website evaluations, a plan of action can be determined. This service comprises proven surveys and methodologies.

Business & Decision Interactive Eolas's AccessiPass package offer

Business & Decision Interactive Eolas's AccessiPass package appeals to all companies, organisations, and associations looking to conform to accessibility regulations.  

Business & Decision Interactive Eolas offers a service that will enable the sites to ultimately obtain accessibility certification. A certification must be maintained over time and Business & Decision Interactive Eolas can assist web authors in producing accessible content (adaptable pages, image descriptions page titles etc.) and to publish new pages with equal levels of accessibility.

This offer follows W3C recommendations (World Wide Web Consortium) in terms of accessibility, and determines the processes that will ensure the integration of accessibility in the creation of content.                                          

About Business & Decision - www.businessdecision.com

Founded in 1992, Business & Decision is an International consulting and Systems Integration company specializing in Business Intelligence, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and E-Business. The Group works with clients to implement systems that aim at driving business functions and performance (dashboards, reporting, consolidation etc.); help in customer relationship management (sales force automation, call centers, campaign management, analytical CRM); and assist in E-Business (intranet and extranet portals, directories and Meta directories, e-commerce, knowledge management, Open source technologies, etc.). With more than 2,800 employees worldwide, Business & Decision has developed a "complete project" approach that spans from consulting to implementation. The Group has a reputation for its functional and technological expertise and has forged partnerships with all of the key technology vendors. At present, Business & Decision has more than 1,200 clients.

Business & Decision has been listed on the Euronext Paris since February 2001 (compartment B / Isin code: FR 00000 7895 8 / Symbol:  BND). Business & Decision is listed in the NextEconomy segment and in the IT-Cac (technology market). For more information, visit: http://www.businessdecision.com/

Press Contact at Business & Decision :

Nisha Neermul - nisha.neermul @businessdecision.com

Tel: +33 1 56 21 21 20
Fax: +33 1 56 21 21 22