POS Occitanie’s Accessible Website Simplifies Inclusion and Compliance
Building a regional intelligence hub for social policy (Project)
Plateforme d’Observation Sociale (POS) Occitanie is a regional social observation platform serving the six million residents of Occitanie in southern France. Its mission is to understand social phenomena and analyze population trends.
The organization’s website aggregates state and local information to provide a single source of truth on key issues such as poverty, housing, youth, and aging. By gathering and structuring data for public use, POS Occitanie helps guide public policy and planning decisions across the region.
However, POS Occitanie serves both decision-makers and the public, so its website needed to adhere to France’s highest accessibility standards.
This wasn’t just a matter of inclusion; it’s also a legal requirement. All public French platforms must comply with the Référentiel Général d’Amélioration de l’Accessibilité (RGAA) standards, which require digital services to be accessible to all users.
POS Occitanie had a strong website with a lot of helpful data, but it didn’t meet these stringent accessibility requirements. To get compliant, the organization needed to:
- Conduct a full accessibility audit
- Publish a formal accessibility declaration
- Implement technical updates to ensure compliance
RGAA compliance requires more than adding a few accessible features. It mandates that the entire digital experience, from navigation and structure to content, meet high standards. POS Occitanie struggled to meet these requirements internally, so it partnered with WS Interactive to implement RGAA strategically without compromising the user experience.
Retrofitting without compromising UX (Challenge / WS Approach)
Chevauchées Sauratoises are nature-lovers, not developers. StiRetrofitting for accessibility isn’t always easy. Legacy code and existing architectures can create a lot of friction, so WS Interactive had to work carefully.
The project required balancing:
- RGAA compliance requirements
- Clear, intuitive UX
- Technical constraints
The site also needed to work well with assistive technologies and still meet the needs of people with disabilities. To meet RGAA requirements, POS Occitanie’s website needed:
- Accessible keyboard navigation
- To be compatible with screen readers
- Accessible HTML structure and semantics
- Strong contrast ratios
- Accessible visuals, including data visualizations and forms
At the same time, the website also needed to be simple and user-friendly. That was a tall order, considering the amount of complex reports on the POS Occitanie website.
WS Interactive didn’t just offer development. Our team worked closely with the organization to develop a strategy to completely restructure the site. Our team created these deliverables to guide POS Occitanie through a complete RGAA accessibility launch:
- Technical remediation: WS Interactive edited the website’s code and improved its UX to make it more accessible. We also cross-tested the new website with screen readers and other devices to make sure it would work for all users.
- Accessibility audit: WS Interactive conducted a detailed accessibility audit of the current platform, covering everything from structure to compatibility with assistive tools. Our experts also found opportunities to improve the website’s navigation.
- Accessibility declaration and documentation: RGAA standards required POS Occitanie to submit a lot of documentation to prove compliance. WS Interactive created the formal accessibility declaration and supporting documentation to help the organization meet these requirements.
A platform that’s ready for today and tomorrow (Result)
POS Occitanie successfully launched its accessibility-first website in record time. Today, the organization has:
- A fully compliant website aligned with RGAA standards
- Improved inclusivity across user groups
- Clearer navigation and stronger semantic structure
- Better compliance readiness
From improved navigation to better contrast, the POS Occitanie website now serves everyone, and that’s a win for all of Occitanie.
Accessibility isn’t a one-time fix. A professional team needs to monitor websites and make adjustments, especially as accessibility laws become more stringent. That’s where WS Interactive comes in. Explore our Accessibility Services to future-proof your website with a strategic accessibility audit.
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