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Web accessibility was a really hot topic for our clients a few years ago. It cooled down in during the pandemic, but recently we’ve started fielding some more questions and interest in the topic. The other day I came across this article that offers a decent introduction into all the things you need to consider.
Web accessibility – often abbreviated as a11y – means creating a website that anyone, no matter what their physical, cognitive or other abilities currently are. This is what makes this concept so difficult, because its entirely open ended with no boundaries. CU*Answers Web Services, like most places, follows W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines when looking for conformance. Note, we use the word conforming to the guidelines, this is not currently a compliance issue.
It’s overwhelming. This article offers an introduction to web accessibility and addresses several of the common issues we see in our own scans of our client sites. Hopefully reading this article gets you thinking about how you can make your own website more accessible to more members. And remember, if you need help, CU*Answers Web Services offers our Web Quality Assurance Service that includes WCAG reporting.
Read the article on UXDesign.cc

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First Trust Credit Union recently launched a new website. The site features modern & responsive promotional banners. A responsive header area with search and prominent call to actions as well as a button to login to online banking. This site also includes an area displaying featured rates, client testimonials and blog posts for Credit Union news or promotions. Check it our here: https://www.firsttrustcu.com/

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I saw this article on Mashable over the weekend and found it interesting. Web browsers are our windows into the internet and yet many people just stick with the one they know. Personally, I am a Firefox user. I like the privacy settings. I also think it is important for some of the Web Services staff to be using other browsers regularly for when we come across a quirk or a setting that affects our client sites.
That said, I almost always have a Chrome browser open also. I use them both. And even Microsoft Edge.
We do see Google Chrome as the most popular browser across all our sites, as seen in Google Analytics. However, I also know that Firefox doesn’t report to Google Analytics, it’s blocked as a privacy feature, so Firefox usage is certainly under reported.
In this article, the Mashable author compares and contrasts Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox across a couple of aspects that are important to the author. I found the article interesting, but I won’t spoil the ending.

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River Valley Credit Union recently launched a new website. The site features modern & responsive promotional banner easily editable from within the site dashboard. A large header area with prominent logo, social icons and branded call to actions. This site also includes an area for featured products and blog posts for Credit Union news or promotions. Check it our here: https://myrivervalleycu.org/

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When you host your credit union website with CU*Answers Web Services, we require that you have certain plugins installed.
These plugins are used for security and auditing as well as maintaining your WordPress site in good health. Some of the feature-related plugins are optional, but we see their use on so many of our client sites that we like to have them available. It helps our support team when our clients are using the recommended plugins that we are familiar with.
Recently my article was published on CUSO Magazine about the 5 Must Have WordPress Plugins for Credit Unions Websites. In this article I highlighted a couple of our required plugins and explain why we use them.
Read the article at CUSO Magazine
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Schools Federal Credit Union has launched their new website. The site features modern promotional banners, that size down perfectly for mobile and tablet devices. This site showcases a prominent header with an easily editable notification bar at the top for quick member alerts and the new login widgets that allow first time users to easily setup their accounts. This site also includes an area for featured rates which are conveniently editable within the user dashboard, featured blog posts for Credit Union news or promotions, and a featured products area. Check it our here: https://www.schoolsfcu.org/