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HKU main website wins gold award in government Web Accessibility Recognition Scheme

15 Apr 2013

Ms Katherine Ma, HKU Director of Communications, receives the “Gold Award” from Government Chief Information Officer Mr Daniel Lai.

The University of Hong Kong’s main website www.hku.hk has won the “Gold Award” in the first Web Accessibility Recognition Scheme co-organized by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) and the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC).

Ms Katherine Ma, Director of Communications of the University of Hong Kong, received the award on behalf of the University at the award presentation ceremony held today (April 15).

The award winning new HKU main website was launched in June 2012, and was designed according to the web accessibility guidelines set out in the Scheme. To meet the Gold requirement, the website has to achieve all 11 judging criteria listed under the Gold Category to incorporate basic and key web accessibility features.

Various features have been adopted in the HKU website to facilitate access to online information and services by all members in the community, including those with disabilities. They include:

• All operations can be performed through a keyboard interface for those who cannot access a website with a mouse

• A “high contrast” version and a text re-sizing function “AAA” are provided for visually impaired users to switch to read using a high colour contrast mode or resize the text up to two times the displaying text without loss of content. The function keys are placed in a prominent position at the header of the webpage.

• Captions are provided for videos for the hearing impaired users. The sound of videos can be easily turned off too.

• Clear and informative links are provided to facilitate those who have cognitive and learning difficulties.

The design is in line with the University’s aim to contribute to a caring and inclusive society by making its website more accessible and friendly to different members of the community. Other characteristics of the website include an “interactive and organic” web design, which allows mobile device users to simply touch the screen and flip the flip boards on the homepage.

For details about the scheme, please refer to the government website at: http://www.ogcio.gov.hk/en/community/web_accessibility/recognition_scheme/

For media enquiries, please contact Ms Trinni Choy (Assistant Director (Media), Communications and Public Affairs Office) Tel: 2859 2606 email: pychoy@hku.hk or Ms Melanie Wan (Senior Manager (Media), Communications and Public Affairs Office) Tel: 2859 2600 email: melwkwan@hku.hk .

The HKU main website in high contrast style colour and enlarged font size

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