Accessibility statement

The short version

• You can use every part of this site with a keyboard alone.
• You can zoom to 200%, or raise your browser’s text size, without losing content.
• Nothing blocks pinch-zoom on a phone or tablet.
• Every text colour meets the WCAG AA contrast level.
• It works with a screen reader, and with JavaScript turned off.
• Found a barrier? Tell us and we will fix it.

How accessible this site is

This site meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.2 at level AA, the standard most of the web is measured against. In plain terms, here is what that means for you:

• Every link, button and form field works with a keyboard alone, and a clear outline always shows where you are on the page.
• You can make the text bigger. Zoom in to 200%, or raise your browser’s default text size, and the page reflows to fit without cutting anything off or making you scroll sideways.
• On a phone or tablet, nothing stops you pinch-zooming.
• Text and background colours meet the AA contrast level, so text stays readable. We check every colour combination automatically.
• Buttons and links are large enough to tap, at least 44 by 44 pixels.
• Headings are in a logical order, so a screen reader can move through a page by heading and nothing is skipped.
• The site works with a screen reader, and with JavaScript turned off.

How we test it

Accessibility is the first constraint we design to, not a check at the end. We test in three ways, because each catches what the others miss:

• Automated checks run every time we change the code, and block a change from shipping if it fails a rule: an image without a text alternative, a heading level that skips, or a colour below the contrast line.
• A keyboard pass, where we move through the site page by page using only the keyboard.
• A screen reader, to hear the site the way someone using one would.

Automated tools only catch some problems, so the keyboard and screen-reader testing does the rest by hand.

If something gets in your way

We want to hear about it. If any part of this site is hard to use, or stops you doing what you came to do, email us at accessibility@digitalconsumers.org.uk. Tell us the page and what happened, with as much or as little detail as you have.

We read every message and aim to reply within five working days. If we cannot fix something straight away, we will tell you when we will, and help you get what you needed another way in the meantime.

Asking for a different format

If you need something on this site in another format, such as large print, easy read, or audio, email us at accessibility@digitalconsumers.org.uk. Tell us the page and the format you need. We aim to reply within five working days. We will consider every request, though we cannot promise to produce every format.

About this statement

This statement describes how the site is built and tested today. When we add features or find a problem, we update this page and change the date at the top.