Accessibility Statement

Our commitment

SearchScallers aims to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA on this website and on every site we build. We treat accessibility as a build requirement rather than an audit we fail later and retrofit.

There is a legal dimension — the ADA has been applied to websites in a substantial and growing body of US litigation — but that is not the interesting reason. The interesting reason is that accessible markup is simply better markup. Semantic HTML, real labels, sensible heading order and adequate contrast make a site easier to use for everyone, and they happen to be exactly what a search engine needs in order to understand a page. Accessibility work and SEO work overlap far more than people expect.

What is implemented on this site

• Semantic HTML. Real headings in order, real lists, real buttons and links used for their actual purposes. No <div> pretending to be a button.
• Full keyboard operability. Every interactive element is reachable and operable by keyboard, in a logical order, with a clearly visible focus indicator that we have not removed for aesthetic reasons.
• Skip link. A "Skip to main content" link is the first thing a keyboard user reaches, so navigation can be bypassed.
• Contrast. Body text on the background exceeds the 4.5:1 minimum by a wide margin, and interactive elements meet the 3:1 requirement for non-text contrast.
• Target size. Buttons and interactive controls are at least 44×44 CSS pixels, meeting WCAG 2.1 AAA target size rather than just the AA minimum.
• Forms. Every field has a genuine associated <label>. Errors are described in text, associated with their field programmatically, and announced to screen readers rather than being conveyed by colour alone.
• No CAPTCHA. We use a honeypot field and submission timing for spam prevention. CAPTCHAs are a significant barrier for users with visual and cognitive disabilities, and there are better options.
• Reduced motion. We honour prefers-reduced-motion and disable transitions and smooth scrolling for anyone who has asked their system for less movement.
• Text resizing. Fluid typography using relative units. Text can be enlarged to 200% without loss of content or functionality, and the page reflows rather than requiring horizontal scrolling.
• No layout shift. Content does not move under the pointer as the page loads, which is a usability problem for everyone and a serious one for users with motor impairments.
• Works without JavaScript. Every page renders and is readable with JavaScript disabled. The contact form submits and works.
• Language declared. The page language is set in the markup so screen readers use correct pronunciation.

Known limitations

An accessibility statement claiming full conformance with no caveats is usually a statement nobody tested. Ours has caveats:

• Automated testing is not enough and we know it. We test with automated tooling and with keyboard navigation on every page. Our screen reader testing is less systematic than we would like. If you use assistive technology and something here does not work, we want to hear about it — you will find problems our tooling does not.
• Third-party content. We control everything on this site today. If we later embed anything from another provider, we cannot guarantee its accessibility, and we will note it here if it happens.
• Older content. Articles published before this statement may not have been reviewed to the same standard. Report anything you hit and we will fix it.

Tell us about a problem

If any part of this website is difficult or impossible for you to use, email [email protected].

It helps if you can tell us:

• The page address
• What you were trying to do
• What happened instead
• Your browser and any assistive technology you use, if you are comfortable sharing it

We aim to acknowledge within 2 business days and to fix confirmed problems within 10. If something will take longer, we will tell you why and offer another way to get what you needed.

For our clients

Every site we build targets WCAG 2.1 AA and includes an accessibility statement like this one. We will be straightforward with you about it: no agency can guarantee a site is "ADA compliant", because the ADA does not specify a technical standard for websites and conformance is assessed against how real people actually experience the site. What we can do is build to a recognised standard, test properly, document the result, and fix what gets reported.

We do not recommend accessibility overlay widgets — the scripts that add a floating accessibility icon to a page. They do not reliably fix underlying problems, they frequently interfere with assistive technology that users have already configured, and they have featured in litigation rather than preventing it. Fixing the markup is the actual answer.

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Questions about this document? Email [email protected] or write to us at the address in the footer.