Proper websites, done properly

Accessibility statement

Accessibility is about making websites (and everything else in life!) easier for more people, on more devices, in more ways.

Not only is it the right thing to do, but it's actually a legal requirement in many countries. If your site isn't accessible, then at some point you're likely to get sued.

The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee He actually invented the Internet

In the UK alone, around 20% of the population have some form of disability, and almost everybody at some point in their lives will have a disability - be it temporary or permanent. Do not stop them from enjoying what you create, sell or want to share!

The Internet is for everybody, so you should ensure everybody can use it.

This site is built to comply with WCAG 2.2 level AA as a minimum standard. Level AAA is met wherever possible.

WCAG 3 will be arriving at some point, and we're already working to adhere to that too.

What this standard actually means to folks in general is:

  • Colour contrast.

    Things should be easy to see and distinguish from each other

  • Font sizes.

    Things should be big enough to read without straining

  • Page zoom.

    You should be able to view this site at anywhere between 30% and 500% zoom and still be able to use it without issue

  • Language.

    Where possible, the simplest, most concise language is used so that more people can understand the content. Not everybody's first language is English, and not everybody has a reading age that matches their physical age.

    In some areas of the site, such as in technical articles and guides, this is not possible but the language used there should be appropriate for the intended audience (in most cases this will be other front end developers or accessibility folks because that's the focus of my technical content!).

  • Low-vision or no vision (blindness).

    Not everybody can see, so they should still be able to read and enjoy the content without barriers. Site content should be accessible via screen reader software.

  • Colour vision deficiency (colour blindness).

    There are four kinds of red-green colour vision deficiency (people who have either few or no red or green colour cones in their eyes), two kinds of blue-yellow colour vision deficiency (people who have either few or no blue or yellow colour cones in their eyes), and two kinds of monochromatic colour vision deficiency (people who see no colours other than shades of grey).

    There are (currently) five colour themes to choose from for this site, which hopefully will cover many use cases. These should all meet contrast requirements and help users with colour vision deficiencies use this site without issue.

  • Touch targets.

    Any links, buttons, form fields and any other interactive element should meet the minimum size for touch devices.

  • Captions, subtitles, and transcripts.

    Any audio or video file that contains audio should have a full written transcript available.

    Any video file with audio should contain subtitles at a minimum, and where possible should provide Closed Captions (CC).

  • Consistent, understandable and logical.

    Global navigation and configuration appears in the same place on every single page, and all content should be written in a logical format, clearly divided by heaadings in the correct order.

  • Content descriptions.

    Where images, charts or other visual elements are used there should be adequate and understandable descriptions to assist those who cannot see them.

From a technical perspective, I currently test against the latest versions of the following browsers by default:

The build tools I use will automatically try and account for the two previous versions of any major browser too. This is not infallible, and sometimes it does mean that I won't support the latest shiny things. Other browsers I do not test for, include, but are not limited to:

  • Internet Explorer - any version. It no longer exists as an application, and is so out of date you should probably be ashamed of yourself if you're using this when there are superior, free browsers out there you can use instead.
  • Microsoft Edge - it's built on top of the same browser rendering engine (Chromium) as Google Chrome so if things work in Chrome, they should work in Edge.
  • Opera, Brave, Vivaldi, Arc, or any other Chromium-based browser for the same reason as I do not test in Edge.
  • Development versions of any major browser supported in the previous list.

This site should work in older, less compliant or more obscure browsers, but there's no guaranteeing the full experience. All content should still be at least readable, if not fully functional.

Where a browser doesn't support certain methods or techniques, it should fall back to a usable state (although likely less bells and whistles).

Exceptions & further information

Whilst I strive to adhere to accepted guidelines and standards for accessibility and usability, it is not always possible to do so in all areas of a website.

I believe passionately in creating sites that everybody can use, and if you find this to not be the case please let me know what difficulties you're facing, what your browser, operating system and input methods are and as much detail as you can provide so that I can investigate and try to find a way to make it better for you.

I'm always looking at ways to improve this site, and your feedback is really, really important to me. If I don't know there's a problem, I can't make it better!

A person (a “service-provider”) concerned with the provision of a service to the public or a section of the public (for payment or not) must not discriminate against a person requiring the service by not providing the person with the service.

Equality Act 2010 Chapter 15, Part 3

Don't forget: It's not just the right thing to do, it is a legal requirement.