This site is built to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA — the standard most commonly applied to healthcare websites in the United States.
Accessibility isn’t a box I’ve ticked once. It’s something I check as the site changes, and something I’d rather hear about directly than have someone quietly give up on.
What’s in place.
Every link, button, and form field can be reached and operated with a keyboard alone, with a clearly visible outline showing where you are. A “skip to main content” link comes first on every page so you don’t have to tab through the menu each time.
Text meets the contrast ratios required at Level AA, and the page reflows without breaking if you zoom in or enlarge type in your browser settings.
If your device is set to reduce motion, the gentle scrolling and fading effects turn themselves off. Nothing on the site flashes, blinks, or moves on a loop.
Photographs carry written descriptions, headings follow a logical order, and form fields are properly labelled. Content is never hidden behind scripts that have to run first.
This site deliberately does not use an accessibility widget or overlay toolbar. Many people who rely on assistive technology find these tools interfere with the software they already use. The accessibility is built into the pages instead.
Where it may fall short.
I’d rather name the gaps than claim a clean sweep. Level AA is the target this site was built against; it isn’t a certification, and no site is ever finished.
The site has been checked with a keyboard and against the contrast requirements, but it hasn’t been tested with every screen reader, browser, and device combination in use. Something that works in one may behave differently in another.
Each photograph has a written description, but a description is always a judgement call. If one is unhelpful or misses what matters, telling me is genuinely useful.
The reading list links out to booksellers and to published research. Those sites are not mine and I can’t vouch for how accessible they are. If a linked paper is unreadable for you, ask me and I’ll get you the substance of it another way.
When a page is updated, something that worked before can break. If this site used to work for you and no longer does, that’s worth an email — it’s the kind of thing I’d otherwise never find out about.