iCARE Health Plan

Accessibility | Website Design & Development

iCare is the national leader for advanced managed care programs that serve people with complex health and social needs.

Health Insurer's Focus on Web Accessibility Improves User Experience

As a recipient of Medicare and Medicaid funding, iCare, like other companies that receive Federal funding, is required to comply with the standards set forth by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). In addition to meeting compliance standards , iCare’s marketing team knew that
creating an accessible website would naturally create a better online experience for all - not just those with disabilities - leading to greater engagement and ultimately, more conversions. By applying accessibility best practices throughout the website development process, Northwoods’ design, usability and accessibility experts helped iCare achieve its goals.

The Situation

• iCare is required to follow state and federal compliance standards, including accessibility guidelines.
• WCAG standards are published by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the main international standards organization for the internet.
• The iCare marketing team understood that meeting WCAG accessibility standards would naturally create a better user experience for all website visitors.

The Solution

• iCare turned to the design, usability and accessibility experts at Northwoods for guidance on how best to meet international accessibility standards.
• The iCare team selected Titan CMS, powered by Northwoods, as its website content management system. Titan CMS offers accessibility features out-of the-box, such as image alt text and descriptive link text, semantic markup with consistent identification of page sections, descriptive page titles, correct language (lang) attribute, consistent navigation, and more.
• With the purchase of a special Accessibility package, Northwoods’ design and development teams were able to build on the native accessibility features offered by Titan CMS to proactively incorporate accessibility best practices into the site design. Areas of focus included ensuring acceptable color contrast ratios, creating advance user warnings upon external link clicks and file downloads, adding keyboard accessibility for navigation throughout the site, and creating visual differentiation for hover and focus styles.

The Outcome

• Providing an accessible website experience for people with disabilities has created a better user experience for all site visitors.
• With training from Northwoods, the iCare team continues to focus on maintaining compliance with accessibility standards by adding alt tags to images, labeling form elements, using correct heading levels and content hierarchy, writing content for the appropriate reading level, and using descriptive link text.

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