Certification Schemes for S3WaaS Websites

S3WaaS offers a variety of pre-certified accessible websites using which Government entities can swiftly build & maintain websites. The content that is published on the S3WaaS-powered websites also needs to comply with accessibility guidelines. S3WaaS has evolved an ecosystem that ensures assessments are done to verify accessibility compliance of content also, before a website can go live. After a rigorous process of ensuring accessibility compliance, when a website goes live, all stakeholders are benefited, for instance:

• Government entity has the satisfaction of having fulfilled its mandate to publish accessible information to serve the needs of all citizens including those who are disabled 
• Citizens including those who are disabled benefit from being able to avail accurate, updated & accessible information on any device
• Judiciary can satisfactorily discharge those cases that have been sub judice due to specific Government websites not being accessible in the past

It is a well known fact that change is the only constant. To keep up with changes on a regular basis, Government entities need to constantly keep publishing any updated content on their websites. While doing so, they need to ensure that the newly published content also remains compliant with accessibility guidelines. 

To meet the pressing need of Government entities to remain compliant, it is recommended to get an independent third-party certification done for accessibility. S3WaaS-powered websites can opt for either of the two certification schemes that award the respective listed certificates, and are available from India’s premier software quality assurance agency STQC.

• Certified Accessible Website (CAW)
• Certified Quality Website (CQW)

Certified Accessible Website 

The process for getting a CAW certificate is straightforward & seamless for S3WaaS-powered website owners. An integrated Dashboard of S3WaaS enables the Government stakeholders to apply online to STQC for the CAW certificate. The documents to be uploaded are listed online and the checklist of self-checks is easy to fill. STQC reverts online with any observed Non Compliances (NCs) on the website w.r.t. Accessibility guidelines in GIGW 2.0. Once all NCs have been satisfactorily addressed, STQC issues the CAW online in the Dashboard, from where it can be downloaded and displayed prominently on the website. The CAW certificate is valid for 1 year. Getting the CAW certificate helps stakeholders significantly in easing the process of making their website a CQW.

Note: The S3WaaS Wiki entry on Getting Accessibility Certification explains the details of the CAW Certification process.

URL: https://s3waas.gov.in/about-accessibility-certification/

Certified Quality Website

The CQW certificate assures compliance of the website with GIGW 2.0. This assessment involves site visits by STQC to ensure adherence to specific guidelines within GIGW 2.0. The certificate is valid for a period of 3 years.