Accessibility statement

What we are aiming for

We build this site to WCAG 2.1 Level AA, the international standard for making a website usable by people with disabilities.

We are not claiming to have finished. We are saying which bar we are measuring against, that we measure rather than assume, and that the places we fall short are written down below rather than left for you to discover.

How we check

Every heading, every link and every block of text on this site is measured in a browser, at the size and color it actually renders, against the background it actually sits on. We do not estimate contrast and we do not trust a design file to tell us what shipped.

Those checks run automatically every time the site is built, and the build fails if a page drops below the standard. The results and the reasoning are kept in the repository, in a file called a11y-known-gaps.md, so that anyone can see what we know about.

We also check, at twenty-one screen widths from a small phone to a large monitor and in both languages, that no page scrolls sideways.

What this site does

• Every page can be used with a keyboard alone. There is a skip link at the top of each page so you can jump straight past the navigation to the content.
• Every page has a single main heading and a sensible heading order beneath it, so a screen reader can move through the page by structure.
• Every image has alternative text, written to say what the picture shows rather than to repeat the caption.
• Form fields have real labels that are attached to them, so clicking the label focuses the field and a screen reader reads the right thing.
• Form results are announced. When you subscribe to the newsletter, the confirmation is read out, not just shown.
• Focus is visible. Wherever you are on the page with a keyboard, you can see it.
• Text contrast is held at 4.5:1 for body copy and 3:1 for large text, which is the AA requirement, and we check it on rendered pages rather than in theory.
• The site works at phone width without side-scrolling, and text can be enlarged.
• The whole site is published in Spanish as well as English.

What is still not right

Two pieces of text on this site do not meet the contrast standard, and we have chosen to leave them for now rather than fix them badly.

The name in each pathway character's speech bubble is set in that pathway's own color. On the Big Boss card, that color measures 2.93:1 against white, where the standard asks for 3:1.

We could fix it by setting the name in dark gray. We have not, because the four pathway colors carry meaning in our materials: each one stands for an age group, and that is what the color is telling you. Changing it would remove information rather than add it. The right fix is to darken all four pathway colors together, which is a change to our brand rather than to a page, and we have not done it yet.

The name is also written out in text beside the picture, so nothing on the card is available only through that color.

We would rather tell you this than let you find it. If it is causing you a problem, say so, and we will move it up the list.

Tell us when we get it wrong

If any part of this site is hard for you to use, we want to know. You will not be bothering us, and you do not need to know the technical name for the problem.

Email info@arkec.org with Accessibility in the subject line, or call 773-893-5966.

Tell us the page, and what happened. If you know what you were using, such as a screen reader, a magnifier, or a keyboard alone, that helps us reproduce it, but tell us either way.

We will reply within five business days, and we will tell you what we are going to do about it and roughly when. If we cannot fix it quickly, we will find another way to get you what you came for.

If you need something another way

If a page, a form or a document on this site is not working for you, we will give you the same information by phone, by email, or in person at 2538 S. Blue Island, Chicago, IL 60608.

Call 773-893-5966 or write to info@arkec.org and ask.

Español

This statement is published in Spanish as well. We have done our best to make the two say the same thing, but the English version is the authoritative one if they ever differ.