Accessibility statement
Accessibility at GoldenHelia.What works, what doesn’t yet.
GoldenHelia started in disability and inclusion work, so we treat accessibility as a condition for shipping, not a later fix. This statement says what we aim for, what is in place in this preview, what still falls short and how to tell us about a problem.
WCAG 2.2, level AA, on every screen.
That covers this website, the dashboard organizations use and the console our curators use. We check each screen with a keyboard and a screen reader before it ships.
- Standard
- WCAG 2.2 AAThe Web Content Accessibility Guidelines from the W3C.
- Status
- Partly meets itMost of the preview meets the standard. The gaps are listed below.
- Independent audit
- Not yetWe test ourselves for now. We plan an outside audit before launch.
Change how pages look and move.
The same settings are at the top of every page, or under Display on a phone. They’re saved in this browser, so they stay when you come back.
- Text size: normal, larger or largest.
- High contrast: darker text, stronger borders and underlined links.
- Calm mode: off by default. Turn it on to stop slideshows, the rotating word on the home page, counting numbers and other moving animations. If your device is set to reduce motion, calm mode stays on.
What you can expect on every screen.
These are the things we design and test for. If one of them doesn’t hold somewhere, that’s a bug, and we’d like to hear about it.
Keyboard
Everything works without a mouse. The focus ring is a clear gold outline. Content pages have a “Skip to the main content” link. When the home page shows your results full screen, focus stays inside until you close it, and Escape closes it.
Screen readers
Pages use headings, landmarks and one main heading each. Every form field has a label, and error messages are tied to the field they’re about. Results and form outcomes are announced when they arrive.
Contrast and colour
Text aims for a contrast of at least 4.5 to 1 against its background. Colour is never the only way we show something: scores have numbers and results have written reasons. High contrast mode goes further.
Text size and zoom
Choose one of three text sizes, or use your browser’s zoom. Pages reflow down to 320 pixels wide, so you shouldn’t need to scroll sideways.
Motion and time
Calm mode turns off moving animations, and it is on automatically if your device asks for reduced motion. Nothing flashes. There are no countdown timers and no time limits on forms. Sign-in links last 15 minutes, and you can ask for a new one at any time.
Plain language
We write at about a grade 8 reading level and rewrite funder jargon. Every score comes with its reasons in a sentence.
Touch
Buttons, links and controls are at least 44 by 44 pixels, so they’re easier to tap.
Images, captions and alt text
Images that carry information have a text description. Decorative images are hidden from screen readers. Our stock photos show the kinds of people we build for. They aren’t our clients, so we never give them names or quotes. We don’t use video or audio yet. Any we add will have captions and a transcript.
Where this preview falls short.
GoldenHelia is in its first pilot, and these are the gaps we know about. We’ll update this list as we fix them.
- The home page has a short loading intro. While it loads, the rest of the page is dimmed for up to 8 seconds, until you move the mouse or touch the screen. Pressing a key, moving focus or scrolling ends it straight away. It doesn’t run if your device asks for reduced motion.
- Display settings are kept in this browser only. They don’t follow your account yet, so on another device you’ll need to set them again.
- At the larger text sizes, the header shows fewer links on narrow screens. The same pages are linked at the bottom of every page.
- High contrast mode doesn’t change photos or illustrations. None of them carry information you can’t also read as text.
- Sign-in links by email aren’t live. In this preview, the link opens on the sign-in page instead of arriving by email.
- “Continue with Google” on the sign-up page is a placeholder and can’t be used yet.
- Our curators’ console is still being built and has had less testing than the public pages and the dashboard.
- Sample data. Opportunities, funders and numbers in the preview are examples, labelled as such.
Tell us when something gets in your way.
Email us at the address below. This is where accessibility reports go, and a person on our team reads each one.
What helps us fix it
- The address of the page, or what you were trying to do.
- What happened, and what you expected.
- If you’re happy to share it: your device, browser and any assistive technology you use.
We aim to reply within 10 working days. If a fix will take longer, we’ll tell you what we’re doing in the meantime. If you can’t use part of GoldenHelia, we’ll get you the information another way, for example by email.