For
Immediate Release
Media Contacts
Irena Mroz
HiSoftware
+1.603.578.1870
irena@hisoftware.com
Independent review addresses
accessibility issues to better serve
federal government clients
Nashua, N.H. – Oct. 17, 2006 –
HiSoftware (www.hisoftware.com),
a leading provider of software,
services and managed operation
solutions that monitor and optimize
Web content, quality and regulatory
compliance, announced today that
Element K (www.elementk.com/),
a leading provider of learning
solutions, services, and training
content, has selected HiSoftware to
perform an assessment of the
company’s Web site and online
training courses for accessibility
compliance. Element K chose
HiSoftware to perform the
independent review to ensure that
the Web site and its e-Learning
courses are compliant with Section
508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
David Snider, Element K’s senior
director of marketing, said, “As our
contracts for e-Learning solutions
to the federal government grew
larger and more complex, it became
even more critical that our Web site
be fully-compliant with Section 508
guidelines. Ensuring that our Web
site is accessible literally means
the difference between winning and
losing business within the Federal
government sector. HiSoftware’s
recognition in the federal space
made them the perfect choice to
perform an assessment of our site to
show our commitment to Web
accessibility.”
Before procuring software or
products, the federal government
requires a voluntary product
accessibility template (VPAT) to
ensure Section 508 compliance.
Element K had already produced a
VPAT, but wanted a third-party
validation to ensure that the Web
site was up-to-date with current
accessibility standards that can
change very quickly. HiSoftware
reviewed and tested 100 pages that
comprise the entire Element K public
Web site, and also tested a sample
e-Learning course. To do this,
Element K produced a Web-based Flash
application that was representative
of the core functionality used to
produce multiple versions of the
company’s online courses.
“Another important factor in our
selection of HiSoftware to perform
the assessment of our e-Learning
courses is the company’s experience
with Flash applications,” said
Snider. “Flash has a unique
development environment, so the
steps to make the programming
accessible are fairly complex. We
knew that HiSoftware had the
experience to find any accessibility
issues within our training courses
and provide us with the steps we
needed to address those issues.”
Once the assessment was completed,
HiSoftware created a Web site
dedicated to the Element K project
and posted a report detailing any
accessibility issues found on the
company’s public site and in the
product test. The assessment report,
reviewed together with HiSoftware
Professional Services, could be
accessed by developers, project
mangers, marketing managers and
business-level managers to address
any repairs necessary for full
accessibility compliance.
“With nearly 50 million people with
disabilities in the U.S., Element K
is a company dedicated to creating
solutions that are usable by
everyone,” said HiSoftware president
and CEO, Kurt A. Mueffelmann. “We
are pleased to be working with such
a forward-thinking company and look
forward to helping in their ongoing
efforts to provide their customers
with accessible solutions.”
About
Element K
Element KŪ delivers Learning
Solutions – a tailored combination
of products, technology and services
that helps customers plan,
provision, launch and manage their
learning program. By leveraging a
broad set of capabilities that span
the entirety of a learning program,
Element K provides customers with a
level of assurance only possible
through a single point of
accountability. Element K’s
capabilities include 2,300
e-Learning courses, 1,300 print
courseware titles, a learning
platform, hands-on labs,
professional certifications, managed
services and integration services.
Element K employs over 700
professionals.
About
HiSoftware
Founded in 1998,
HiSoftware is a leading provider of
software, services, and On-Demand
solutions that test, repair, monitor
and enforce Web content, quality,
and regulatory compliance. The
company’s solutions empower content
developers, Web site architects, and
executives to work collaboratively
to create and manage corporate Web
standards for accessibility,
privacy, security, search engine
optimization (SEO), site quality and
performance, branding, competitive
intelligence, and application
transaction testing (AppTest).
HiSoftware’s customers boast many of
the world’s largest public and
private sites including US and
international government agencies
and Global 2000 companies such as
ChevronTexaco, Oracle, Mercury
Interactive, and Microsoft. For more
information about HiSoftware visit
www.hisoftware.com.
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HiSoftware,
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Studio are trademarks of Hiawatha
Island Software Inc. which may be
registered in certain jurisdictions.
All other brand/product names are
trademarks of their respective
holders.
