Business & Technology
Ecommpay adds Recite Me toolbar to boost accessibility
SOFIAH NICHOLE SALIVIO
News Editor
Ecommpay has added the Recite Me accessibility toolbar to its website, extending its accessibility work across its online presence and broadening support for users with different access requirements.
The cloud-based tool provides a range of functions intended to improve how visitors interact with website content. Features include text-to-speech functionality, language translation options, adjustable fonts and colour settings, screen masking, reading aids and styling controls designed to help users navigate information in ways that better suit their individual needs and preferences.
The addition forms part of Ecommpay’s wider accessibility and inclusivity strategy, which has expanded over the past year as organisations across the digital commerce and financial services sectors face growing expectations around accessible online services and user experience standards.
The update follows a broader redesign of Ecommpay’s website in 2024 aimed at improving usability for people with visual, cognitive and language-related accessibility needs. The redesign focused on navigation structure, readability, page clarity and compatibility with assistive technologies used by people accessing digital services in different ways
Ecommpay also introduced Ecommpay for Good, an ongoing accessibility and inclusivity programme designed to support broader improvements across the organisation’s customer-facing platforms and digital operations.
The initiative reflects wider industry efforts to make online financial and payment services more accessible as digital transactions become increasingly central to everyday consumer and business activity.
According to Ecommpay, its website now aligns with standards established by the Digital Accessibility Centre and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. These standards are designed to support assistive technologies, improve visual clarity, reduce cognitive load and create more consistent online experiences for users with diverse accessibility requirements.
Accessibility standards have become an increasing focus for organisations operating across digital commerce, banking and software services, particularly as regulators and advocacy groups place greater scrutiny on how online platforms accommodate users with disabilities or varying communication needs.
The Recite Me toolbar can also support multilingual access by allowing users to translate website content into different languages, a feature that may help organisations communicate more effectively with broader international audiences and users who may not be fluent in English.
The rollout reflects a wider trend among technology and financial services companies investing in accessibility-focused tools and interface improvements as part of broader digital transformation and customer experience strategies.
Accessibility push
The latest change reflects a broader trend among financial technology groups and online service providers, which face growing pressure to make digital services easier to use for people with disabilities, language barriers, and different reading needs. For payments companies, website accessibility can also influence how merchants assess service providers and the customer experience linked to payment journeys.
Ecommpay said merchants using its services can benefit from a more inclusive payment experience that reduces friction, drop-off, and exclusion. The company positions itself as a global payments platform serving businesses that need both local and international payment options.
Founded in 2012 and headquartered in London, Ecommpay offers acquiring services, payment processing, and orchestration, alongside a range of payment methods. It is authorised in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority to provide payment services.
Miranda McLean, Chief Marketing Officer at Ecommpay, said the addition was intended to improve practical usability beyond baseline compliance requirements.
“While we are already DAC approved and WCAG compliant, the addition of the Recite Me toolbar to our website demonstrates our commitment to accessibility and inclusivity,” McLean said.
“Compliance with DAC and WCAG guidelines ensures our website meets required standards from a technical perspective. But it doesn’t always address how easily users can read, understand or engage with the content itself. The Recite Me toolbar adds a user-controlled layer that improves real-world usability, particularly for those with visual impairments, cognitive differences or language barriers. Most people won’t notice the little pop-up in the corner of the page, but for those who need it, they can now access our website in whatever format they need,” she added.
Business & Technology
Mouse droppings found in Oxford city Chinese restaurant
Ten Seconds Yunnan Rice Noodle in New Inn Hall Street was inspected by Oxford City Council on May 26.
Inspectors subsequently handed the Chinese restaurant a rating of two out of five, meaning “improvement necessary”.
According to the report, received by the Oxford Mail after a Freedom of Information request submission, officers identified a series of concerns, including evidence of mouse activity.
The report states that mouse droppings were found throughout the business in two food storage rooms and the bar area.
In one of the storage areas, mouse activity was present where noodles were kept in plastic carrier bags and potatoes and onion were left in the open.
“Historic” mouse droppings at Ten Seconds Yunnan Rice Noodle (Image: Oxford City Council)
Inspectors said pest-proofing measures were “not great” and identified a hole beneath a sink in the bar area which could potentially allow pests to enter the premises.
In the report, the inspector said: “At the time of the inspection, I observed a number of historic mouse dropping in both the food storage areas.
“The most recent pest control report mentions no mouse activity in any of the food storage areas.
“All areas where food is prepared and stored must be kept clean and capable of being kept clean. This is so that pests are not attracted into your premises and the risk of food being contaminated by dirt is minimised.”
They advised the owner to remove all historic mouse droppings within the food business and continue to identify any issues of pest proofing within a month.
A hole where pests could have entered underneath the sink (Image: Oxford City Council)
The business was instructed to remove the droppings and improve pest-proofing measures where previous temporary work had failed.
Food storage issues were also highlighted during the inspection.
In an “overfilled” fridge, officers found raw chicken stored above ready-to-eat foods, including uncovered beans and spring onions, which could cause cross-contamination leading to food poisoning.
That same fridge, which stored items such as cooked rice, chicken ballotine and prawns, was above the required eight degrees, raising concern about food poisoning.
A large number of food containers were also unlabelled, despite the food looking fresh.
The officer insisted a “robust system for ensuring adequate stock rotation” was implemented and recommended all food be kept in sealed, pest-proof containers.
An overfilled fridge which was measured above safe temperature (Image: Oxford City Council)
No food-safe sanitiser or disinfectant were available on site, only a kitchen cleaner which they said did not provide adequate disinfection.
Despite the concerns, the report noted there had been a “huge improvement” in cleaning standards since the restaurant’s previous inspection.
The business also had a food safety management system in place and a pest control contract with Pure Pest Solutions.
The council has required a range of improvements, with compliance timescales ranging from one week to one month with a revisit inspection planned.
Business & Technology
Oxford startup secures Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award
Oxford-based Peripear has secured an Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award and a £74,974 grant for its development of a wearable device designed to prevent perineal trauma during labour.
The funding will support continued product development ahead of the company’s planned first-in-human study.
Nina van Schaick, co-founder and COO of Peripear as well as a midwife who trained at Oxford Brookes, said: “I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to see this gap.
“I was incredibly lucky to meet my co-founder, Eviatar Natan, right as my frustration about the lack of translation of evidence into practice had peaked.
“There was a proven mechanism that could reduce injuries occurring in up to 90 per cent of vaginal births, and it was being left out of clinical pathways simply because no standardised tool existed to deliver it.”
Peripear is developing what it describes as the world’s first automated perineal thermotherapy wearable, designed to prevent perineal trauma during childbirth.
A perineal thermotherapy wearable is an emerging medical device.
It is a hands‑free warm compress device used on the perineum during the second stage of labour to reduce severe tearing and episiotomies while improving maternal comfort.
Ms van Schaick added: “I’m a farmer’s granddaughter, and when I started practising over 14 years ago, I asked: where is the tool I need to implement this evidence? I looked around and realised we were still asking clinicians to improvise.
“Peripear is what happens when the person who has lived the problem, both personally and professionally, meets the person who can help her build the solution.”
Business & Technology
UK bike manufacturer on brink of £30m collapse after 139 years
The company behind bikemaker Raleigh, which was founded 139 years ago and has supplied bikes to the UK’s cycling city of Oxford over the years, has filed to appoint administrators.
Accell UK and Ireland, part of Netherlands-based Accell Group, filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators as the wider group kickstarted insolvency proceedings.
This follows a difficult spell for Nottinghamshire-based Raleigh, which confirmed job cuts in 2024 before reporting a £30m loss in financial accounts published the following year.
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The boss of Accell said it was a “deeply sad and frustrating situation” and that it had “tirelessly explored” every option for the future of the cycling business.
The company bought Raleigh in 2012 for around 100 million US dollars (£74 million), adding to its roster of bike brands throughout Europe including Haibike, Winora and Ghost.
Raleigh was founded in Nottingham in 1887 and was well-known for its Chopper model, which featured extended handlebars and is now part of its “retro” range.
It no longer manufactures bikes from Nottingham, and its head office has moved to Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, while the company has shifted to selling electric bikes under Accell’s ownership.
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Accell went through a restructuring in February, securing additional funding from shareholders and lenders and reducing debts.
The group said it had since “explored every possible avenue” for its future, including discussions with potential buyers, but that it had not been possible to find a solution which means the business can continue operating.
It has therefore initiated insolvency proceedings in the Netherlands.
Accell’s chief executive Jonas Nilsson said: “This is a deeply sad and frustrating situation given all the hard work and everything we have achieved, with the support of shareholders and lenders, to restructure Accell’s operations and finances.
“It is an especially difficult moment for our employees, creditors, customers, suppliers, and partners.
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“Every realistic option for the future of the business has been tirelessly explored, and none have resulted in a solution to continue the Group in its current form.
“Our immediate focus is to support an orderly process, provide clarity wherever possible, and work with the relevant court-appointed administrators to preserve viable activities and employment where circumstances allow.”
At its 1970s height, Raleigh employed more than 13,000 people across the UK, with around 8,000 working at its various Triumph Road sites in Nottingham.
The former factory land later became the University of Nottingham’s Jubilee Campus.
Raleigh subsequently moved its headquarters to Church Street in Eastwood, before leaving that site and relocating to Durban House in 2024.
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