The various accessibility-specific features and considerations of this website are discussed below. This website has been built to follow best practices and the standards of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). If you have any trouble accessing any component of this website, have suggestions for how to make the experience better for assistive technology users, or are curious about the approaches implemented, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Structure
Headings are used to convey hierarchical levels of content. Headings at level 1 start the main content of any given page, while level 2 headings are used around any major sections of the site. Heading levels 3 through 6 are used when any section has subsections. Images are described so that vision is not required to appreciate graphical content. List markup is used to group related components so that a screen reader user can skip over a list of items with a single keystroke. Semantic regions such as navigation, main, and footer are used for easy movement between sections. In addition, there are subtle affordances such as slides reading out automatically when the next or previous buttons are activated. We tested the website with NVDA, Jaws, and VoiceOver. Please let us know if you encounter any difficulties with any screen reading solutions.
Multimedia
Audio and video content on the site never automatically plays. When there is video content, it is always captioned. Additionally, if audio description is necessary to understand the content, then it is provided.
Contrast and Readability
Colors have been chosen to ensure there is sufficient color contrast on the website. We avoid overprinting, where text is placed atop images, and links are designated clearly with underlines. To facilitate keyboard usage, focus outlines are clearly visible on all images, links, buttons, edit fields, and other focusable elements. Color is also never the sole source of conveying information on the site.
Keyboard Navigation
Keyboard users can activate or manipulate every single component of the website that a mouse or touch user can. In addition to the focus-highlighting discussed above, longer pages also have on-page navigation links at the top to jump to specific portions of the page. Additionally, every single page has a “skip to content” link.
Voice Navigation
All buttons or links have textual labels so that the accessible name of a component is always visible. Similarly, text fields are clearly labeled. On-page skip links are made visible for all users, including voice users, to actuate for logical scrolling.
Understanding Content
The language on the site tries not to be overly complicated or full of unexplained acronyms. A specific reading level was not targeted for the copy of the site; however, we are completely open to any feedback around this topic.
Suggestions or Issues
Accessibility is an evolving process and human error does occur. If there’s any aspect of this website that you find hard or difficult to use, please do not hesitate to contact us.