Accessibility is an incredibly important element of your website, especially as a medical practice. Not only do you want to ensure that your website is compliant with government regulations providing equal accessibility to all individuals, you do not want to limit your patients. Consider these reasons why it’s important to make your website more accessible. 

1. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines provide an effective template for making your content available to as many users as possible.

You don’t have an excuse for failing to meet compliance guidelines. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines provide a clear template that makes it easy to understand what you need to do in order to make it easier for your users to access your website, including:

• Making all commands available from a keyboard
• Offering alternatives to text
• Offering captions for multimedia
• Giving users time to respond appropriately to the content you’ve provided
• Avoiding content that could cause seizures and other problems for users
• Making your website compatible with the assistive devices used by users with disabilities

Thanks to the ready availability of this information, your web developer can put together a website that offers accessibility to your patients–which, in turn, makes those users more satisfied with the services they receive from your practice. 

2. An accessible website makes information available to disabled individuals who need it.

If your website isn’t accessible, then people who suffer from disabilities–including both short-term disabilities and permanent disabilities–will not be able to use your website effectively. If, on the other hand, you make your website accessible to those individuals, they, too, can have access to the information they need. This can be anything from how to contact your practice to information about specific procedures – all information your patients need in order to manage their health effectively. 

3. Accessibility can make a big difference in users’ opinions of your website.

Abled individuals who do not have close family members or loved ones who suffer from serious disabilities may never think twice about the importance of accessibility on a website. Patients and family members who do suffer from those disabilities, on the other hand, may quickly realise just how much of a difference that accessibility makes. That reaction can shape their opinion of your website and often have a substantial impact on users’ opinion of your website. 

4. An accessible website can make interactions with disabled users easier.

Your website is an incredible tool that allows you to connect and interact with your patients in a unique format. If you have disabled patients, your website can make those interactions with them clearer and easier to handle. For example, online services can remove the need for deaf and hearing impaired individuals to manage phone calls to connect with your practice – and that simple step can make a big difference in patients’ experience with your office as a whole.

5. Accessibility practices can speed up your website and help with search ranking.

Not only does accessibility benefit your disabled paitents, it can help benefit all your users–and your medical practice. Making accessibility changes to your website can help speed up load times, which can prevent users from bouncing away from your site before they have a chance to even see your content. Google and other search engines also prioritise many of the options that make your website more accessible, which means that as you make your website more accessible to disabled users, you also increase your search ranking.

Accessibility matters. As a medical practice, you would not limit physical accessibility to potentially disabled patients – and you want to provide those same options to your disabled patients online. Need help making sure your website is accessible? Contact us today for a free audit of your website.

The coronavirus crisis has led to more employees than ever working remotely. As a result, many management teams are struggling to effectively manage their employees, With these strategies, you can streamline your management practices and make it easier to keep up with your teams.

1. Develop realistic standards for tracking employee performance.

Many of your employees are working from home for the first time–and they’re doing it under incredibly unusual circumstances. They may be working around spouses and children, even attempting to facilitate distance learning. 

Take a look at your standards for measuring employee performance. What do you expect your employees to accomplish each day? What levels of performance do you expect to see?

Not only should you carefully consider what you expect your employees to accomplish, you should consider how you’re monitoring that performance. Some employers are choosing to use time tracking apps to keep up with exactly what their employees are doing each day–and when they’re doing it.

Throughout the coronavirus crisis, however, your employees may need to alter their work schedules to fit their current schedules. Allow some flexibility in when employees complete their tasks, as long as they turn them in by your preassigned deadlines. 

Your HR software is an excellent solution for helping you measure and record your employees’ performance throughout the coronavirus crisis. You may find that employees stand out with exceptional performance throughout this crisis, or you may find that some employees need extra support and encouragement. Tracking that performance can provide grounds for future promotions, raises, and acknowledgement as the crisis subsides.

2. Check in with employees regularly. 

Now, as never before, it’s important to schedule check-ins with your employees. You want to be sure that your employees have the tools they need to function effectively throughout the crisis. Their needs may change dramatically from one week to the next–or your employees may discover new needs as they work to adapt to these changing, challenging circumstances. Schedule regular check-ins with all of your employees, ideally one-on-one. Many employees will share information with you during a personal check-in that they might not necessarily share in a group meeting. 

3. Make sure employees know who to contact.

If your employees run into a problem while they’re working from home, who do they contact? How do they handle leave requests during this time? Employees may be stuck at home, but that won’t prevent them from needing time off–or, in some cases, they may need that time off more than ever. Your HR software can help handle those leave requests and ensure that employees’ needs continue to be met throughout this time. It can also provide a platform that will allow employees to connect with and contact their managers when they have questions or concerns, either related to the coronavirus crisis or their usual tasks. 

4. Keep holding meetings.

Make sure you’re still connecting with your employees as often as possible during this period of remote work. Many practices are trying to keep the flow of daily life as close to normal as possible. If, for example, you have a regular Monday morning meeting to help your employees prepare for the week ahead, you may want to take that meeting to an online meeting platform that will allow you to continue to connect with your employees. These online meetings are also ideal for collaboration, whether about existing projects or about the needs your employees and your patients have throughout the coronavirus crisis. 

Managing your employees remotely as COVID-19 continues to present challenges to many businesses and employees alike.

Fortunately, your HR software can help make it easier. Check out our platform today to learn more about how it can help make it easier to manage your employees through this time.