The “Access for all” foundation has examined the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) website for its accessibility to disabled persons and awarded it an AA certification rating. This ranking denotes good accessibility which is particularly important to disabled persons.

Snsf.ch is also the first equal access website in Switzerland developed using the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. The SNSF also benefited from the cooperation of its technology partner, Unic.

Equal access is both the prerequisite for disabled individuals to use the internet independently and, at the same time, it is a bridge to innovative, future-focused technologies for everyone. Good website accessibility is very important to disabled persons because the wealth of information on the web enables them to achieve greater autonomy.

Mobile phones have also been used to access websites for quite a while, and search engines ‘google’ the internet similarly to a blind person. Equal access is a major benefit for both these applications.

SNSF meets requirements
The Equal Opportunities for Disabled Persons Act that came into force in 2004 also covers community services. These must be accessible to disabled persons. This includes the internet offerings of the federal government, cantons and municipalities. With its federal guidelines for structuring equal access internet offerings, the federal government has defined in detail the implementation of equal access within its central government administration. The successful certification of the SNSF website means it now complies with these requirements.