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Sector Spotlight:
Household Insurance
AbilityNet Webinar
1pm, 30 April 2014

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Welcome
Mark Walker, AbilityNet
Robin Christopherson, AbilityNet

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A review of six of the leading
players in the UK household
insurance sector undertaken in
February 2014
• Our methodology
• The findings
• Conclusions
• Q+A
Please use the chat box to ask
questions at any stage
Sector Spotlight: Household Insurance

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• Accessibility Testing
• User Testing
• Design Reviews
• Desktop, Mobile and Tablet
Integration
• Accessibility Accreditation
• Service Agreements
• My Computer My Way
AbilityNet

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UK Household Insurance
• Household insurance market is forecast to reach £8.6bn by the end of
2017
• Overcapacity in the market continues to keep competition high
• Banks are losing customers to the direct channels
• Top 10 brands account for 45.8% of the market
• Consumers are more cautious when purchasing home insurance
• Research into current prices is a major part of the buying process
• Huge competitive pressure on rates charged and cost per sale
• Online services critical to success

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AbilityNet Accessibility Performance Index
Red – many issues identified - immediate action required.
Amber – some issues identified - attention needed.
Green – no immediate issues identified.

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Methodology
• Monthly review of specific sectors
• Identify relevant sample
• Test using Compliance Sheriff
• Test using disabled users
• Consultant review
• Share report with people we have tested
“If you can’t complete a transaction in two minutes on a phone or tablet
then someone with a disability may not be able to complete it at all”

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Technical Compliance
• Tested using Compliance Sheriff
• Tested home page and one link down
• Results reviewed by a consultant
• Score agreed as red, amber or green

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Compliance Sheriff: www.zurich.co.uk
Compliance Sheriff Health Score – 25%

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Compliance Sheriff: www.zurich.co.uk
Top 10 Issues Pages
Form does not provide submit button. 20
Data table must have one row or column of headers 18
Data table must have caption to identify table 18
Data table is not using proper markup. 18
Adjacent links for same resource found 18
No summary provided for data table. 18
Non-decorative IMG element contains empty ALT attribute. 12
Page does not use headers according to specification. 11
FRAME element does not contain a TITLE attribute. 6
AREA element has null ALT attribute. 3

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User Testing
Two user journeys:
• Getting a quote
• Looking for graduate careers opportunities
Testers included:
• Dyslexia – 6m of the population – of which 4m severely so
• Sight loss – est 2 million in UK
• 360,000 people registered as blind or visually impaired
• Hearing Loss - 10 million people in UK
• British Sign Language user – approx 50,000 users
• Able-bodied

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User Journeys
Task 1:
Imagine that you are renewing your household insurance and are browsing
different providers for a quote. Please visit the website and see if you can get a
quote for house insurance.
Task 2:
Imagine you want to apply for a graduate job with this company – but only one
that is relatively local to you. See if you can find graduate opportunities for your
area.

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What the users said: Aviva

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What the users said: Aviva
• The website overall was well set-out but I found the headings with a yellow
background difficult to see – magnification user
• The website pages were well spaced so it was easy to navigate with
magnification - magnification user
• It was good to be reminded what information was required but after the date
of birth no information was given as I tabbed through the form so it wasn’t
consistent and I didn't know what I was supposed to be entering. It just said
‘edit’ which left me a tad confused – blind user
• I like how the website is designed so that everything is well spaced out (not
cluttered), making for clear and comfortable visibility and ease of use – BSL
user

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What the users said: AXA

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What the users said: AXA
• I like that after you receive your quote, you can purchase additional insurance
such as Student cover, etc. - dyslexia
• I found the links on the homepage of the website difficult to see and had to
increase my magnification level as the text was very small. I also found the
white text difficult to read – magnification user
• The headings on the careers part of the website were a lot easier to read as
there was a good contrast with blue text and white background. The headings
were also spaced out so it was easier to navigate with magnification –
magnification user.

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What the users said: Direct Line

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What the users said: Direct Line
• The form looked easier than it was I think because when I pressed
‘continue’ nothing happened so I think there was an error that wasn't
spoken to me -
• I thought finding a graduate vacancy was going to be easy but I
couldn’t seem to find an actual job as the drop down boxes weren’t
working as well as I would have liked with my screen reader and the
keyboard – screen reader user

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What the users said: Hiscox

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What the users said: Hiscox
• I found the link on the homepage difficult to read as some of the black writing
was faint but once you clicked on the links the black and red text was darker
which was easier to read – screen magnification
• I found vacancies for graduates but it had Flash on it so couldn’t find a list of
jobs and places. Shame about the flash as apart from that the website was so
good! – Blind user
• Needs to be redesigned for visually impaired users. First of all, all the links
should be labelled and written in HTML but not in Flash or any other animated
content tool and not just a list of incomprehensible clickable objects! – Blind
user

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What the users said: NFU Mutual

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What the users said: NFU Mutual
• The information that is presented on the web site is good, but extremely
complicated to navigate for a visually impaired user. Everything has to be dug
out, instead of found on the home page – blind user
• I like the idea of giving guidance and support for comparing and choosing the
product that is mostly suitable for a customer. But a form of how to get a
quote has to be included below these sections where possible and I couldn't
find one anywhere – blind user
• I found the links on the careers website easier to follow then on the main
website and there was good contrast with white and black and blue on white
so they were easy to read - magnification

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What the users said: Zurich

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What the users said: Zurich
• I used insert+f7 as per usual to bring all links on the page into a list and it said
homepage the first time, then Home - which I took to mean home insurance -
good job I was right! They should make sense out of context like this – Blind
• Rather disappointingly, I was also unable to enter the Text Relay service
prefix 18002 before my home number (allowing for accessible calls), as I had
reached the maximum number of digits allowed. As a deaf person I must be
able to request the use of the Text Relay service – BSL
• I do not know what kind of lock I have on my doors and had to guess. Would
help if there was a link on the quote form to an explanation, plus pictures, of
different type of locks - Dyslexia

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Accessibility Help
Looking for best practice
Using our experience as expert witnesses
The quality of the Accessibility Help Page is a useful indicator
Plus we look for additional accessibility that disabled users are catered
for eg BrowseAloud or My Computer My Way

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www.directline.com/accessibility

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AbilityNet Accessibility Performance Index
Red – many issues identified - immediate action required.
Amber – some issues identified - attention needed.
Green – no immediate issues identified.

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Conclusions: An Opportunity Missed
• This is a typical set of results
• Mostly amber, some red, very little green
• They raise legal, marketing and governance issues
• But almost all issues raised could be addressed quickly and easily
• Some easy wins and an opportunity for competitive advantage
• Better designed pages and forms
• Better user experience for all users

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Questions and Answers
• Please use the chat box or the questions box to ask your question
• We will then turn on your microphone and ask you to repeat your
question
• Any question not answered can be covered in a follow up email
• A video and audio recording of the webinar will be available
afterwards
• The slides are available now on www.slideshare.net/abilitynet
• A copy of the sector report is available on request from
sales@abilitynet.org.uk

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Contact Us
Next webinar: Global Accessibility Awareness Day, 15 May 2014
More free webinars from AbilityNet: www.abilitynet.org.uk/webinars
Talk to us about our Accessibility Services
www.abilitynet.org.uk/accessibility-services
sales@abilitynet.org.uk 01926 465 247
robin.christopherson@abilitynet.org.uk @abilitynet