Accessibility Statement, Accessible Trades

Our commitment

Accessible Trades is designed to help people research companies that may provide accessible home adaptations. Accessibility is therefore a central part of how we design and develop the service.

We aim to make the website clear, predictable and usable with different browsers, devices and assistive technologies.

Our current target is to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 at Level AA.

Using this service

You should be able to:

navigate the main search journey using a keyboard;
move through interactive controls in a logical order;
see a visible focus indicator when using a keyboard;
use form fields with visible labels, instructions and validation messages;
understand validation errors without relying on colour alone;
zoom and resize text without losing access to essential functionality;
use the service on smaller screens without needing to scroll in two directions for ordinary page content;
use headings and landmarks to move through page content;
open and close modal dialogs using a keyboard; and
reduce or remove non-essential animation where your device is set to prefer reduced motion.

Browser, operating-system and assistive technology settings may also allow you to change text size, colours, contrast, speech output or navigation behaviour.

Compliance status

Accessible Trades is currently partially compliant with WCAG 2.2 Level AA.

The current service has undergone internal accessibility acceptance testing, including keyboard navigation, browser zoom, responsive layouts, focus behaviour, forms, dialogs and reduced-motion behaviour.

We use the term partially compliant because the service has not yet undergone an independent accessibility audit or formal usability testing involving disabled people. Any accessibility problems reported or found through future testing will be recorded and prioritised for correction.

Known accessibility issues

The following limitations and areas for continued review are currently known.

Company and public-record data

Some company names, addresses and activity descriptions are supplied by external public-data sources. Their formatting may be inconsistent or difficult to understand.

We are reviewing how this information can be presented more clearly without changing the meaning of the original record.

Large sets of search results

Search results are divided into pages and include result summaries and navigation controls. Large result sets may still require users to move through several pages.

We will continue to review whether additional filtering or navigation options would make these results easier to use.

Custom combobox controls

Location and service selection use custom autocomplete controls with keyboard and ARIA behaviour. These controls have been included in our internal keyboard and interaction testing.

We have not yet tested every possible combination of browser, operating system and screen reader, so compatibility may vary.

External websites

Links may open Companies House, maps, search engines, council pages or company websites. We cannot guarantee the accessibility of those external services.

Long legal and guidance pages

Longer pages include section navigation to help users move through their content. This navigation has been reviewed at different viewport sizes and browser zoom levels.

We will continue to review it as page content changes and when compatibility issues are reported.

Dynamic status announcements

Loading, empty and error states have been reviewed as part of internal accessibility testing.

Because announcements can behave differently across assistive technologies, we will continue to review these states and respond to compatibility problems that are reported.

Third-party content and services

Accessible Trades uses or links to information supplied by external organisations, including Companies House, councils, map providers, search engines and individual companies.

We aim to make our presentation of this information accessible, but we do not control the accessibility of external websites or documents.

If an external source prevents you from accessing information needed to use Accessible Trades, contact us and we will consider whether we can provide the relevant information in another form.

Feedback and reporting accessibility problems

We welcome feedback about barriers that make the service difficult to use.

When reporting a problem, it is helpful to include:

the page or feature you were using;
what you were trying to do;
what happened;
the device and browser you were using, where known; and
any assistive technology involved, where you are comfortable sharing that information.

Email accessibility feedback

We aim to acknowledge accessibility reports within 5 working days.

Alternative formats and additional support

Depending on the request, we may be able to provide:

a plain-text version of relevant information;
a clearer explanation of a company record or evidence label;
help locating the original public source;
information in a larger-text format; or
reasonable support with another accessibility requirement.

We will discuss the request with you and explain what we can reasonably provide.

Technical information

Accessible Trades is committed to improving the accessibility of this website and making reasonable adjustments where they are needed.

The service is built as a responsive web application using semantic HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Vue.

Our accessibility target is WCAG 2.2 Level AA. We use that standard to guide decisions about:

colour contrast;
keyboard interaction;
focus order and focus visibility;
form labels and error messages;
headings and page structure;
responsive layouts and text resizing;
dialog and autocomplete behaviour; and
status messages and dynamic content.

How the service was tested

The current version has undergone internal accessibility acceptance testing during design and development.

Testing included:

keyboard-only navigation through the main search, results and guidance journeys;
focus order and visible focus indicators;
form labels, instructions, validation and error states;
dialogs, autocomplete controls and carousel controls;
responsive layouts on narrow and wide viewports;
browser zoom and text resizing;
semantic headings, landmarks and page structure;
loading, empty and error states;
reduced-motion behaviour; and
automated accessibility checks where appropriate.

What we are improving

Our continuing accessibility work includes:

responding to accessibility feedback and correcting confirmed barriers;
testing important changes before they are released;
extending compatibility testing across additional screen-reader, browser and operating-system combinations;
reviewing the usability of large result sets as the volume of available company information grows;
improving the clarity of company and public-record information where this can be done without changing its meaning;
seeking opportunities for usability testing involving disabled people; and
arranging an independent accessibility audit when resources allow.

We will update this statement when significant accessibility testing is completed, when known issues change or when the service undergoes a material redesign.

Contact us

hello@accessibletrades.co.uk

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