The Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind (RNZFB) is proud to be one of three organisations presented with New Zealand's first Accessibility Accreditation Award from AccEase, a company specialising in web accessibility.

The RNZFB joins the Department of Internal Affairs, and the Office for Disability Issues in receiving the award for creating a website that is barrier-free for people with a wide range of disabilities.

The award takes the form of a quality mark which is showcased on the RNZFB website home page. On its own website, AccEase will carry a register of sites that have earned the mark.

Websites must meet New Zealand and international standards and pass rigorous user tests to qualify for the award.

"Available does not equal accessible. Simply putting material on the web does not mean everyone can use the information," said Robyn Hunt, co-Director of AccEase.

Paula Daye, CEO of the RNZFB is pleased with the award as it recognises that the RNZFB has shown leadership in website accessibility.

"All websites can and must be accessible and useable. Our organisation set the bar high, and others can achieve similar levels of accessibility. Our in-house multidisciplinary team created a website that is equally accessible for blind, deafblind, vision-impaired and sighted people. We now have an enhanced information resource for our 11,500 members, our staff and the world.

"Not only have we developed a website that is accessible from a user and a content management perspective, we're also sharing our experience and enhanced technical code with the wider community - at no cost," said Paula.

For more information visit www.accease.com

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For further information please contact:

Jude Cooney, RNZFB Communications Manager on (09) 355 6923 or 027 496 4174