Accessibility Policy

CallingForHelp.org is maintained by volunteers who seek to make the site as accessible as possible.

We take the issue of site accessibility seriously and are guided by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 and the UK’s Equality Act 2010 so that people with disabilities can understand, navigate, and interact with the content of our website and it’s service.

Calling For Help publishes documents in a range of formats, including but not limited to HTML webpages, PDF documents, videos, and images. This website is built and hosted using a Content Management System (CMS) provided by Squarespace which limits our ability to make the site accessible to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AAA standard.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use those documents. For example, when we produce a document we make sure to:

· Provide an HTML option where possible.
· Tag headings and other parts of the document properly, so screen readers can understand the page structure.
· Make sure we include alt text alongside non-decorative images, so people who cannot see them can still understand what they’re for.
· Avoid using tables, except when we’re presenting data.
· Write in plain English.

New content and documents we publish and documents you need to download or fill in to access one of the services we provide should be fully accessible.

What to do if you cannot use one of our documents:

If you find a problem with site accessibility and cannot access some of our content or services, or if you need information in an alternative format, you can contact us and ask for your preferred format.

We’ll consider the request and get back to you in 3 days.

Reporting accessibility problems with one of our documents:

We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of our documents and service. If you find any problems not listed on this page or you think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, contact us at hello@callingforhelp.org.

We will respond to you within 3 days.

Enforcement procedure:

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’). If you’re not happy with how we respond to your complaint, contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS).

The documents Calling For Help publishes are partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.1 AA standard, due to the non-compliances listed below:

Accessibility problems we’re aware of:

  1. A few of our documents have diagrams. These images do not have a text alternative, so the information in them is not available to people using a screen reader. This does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 1.1.1 (non-text content). We plan to add text alternatives for all diagrams by April 2022. When we publish new documents we’ll make sure our use of diagrams meets accessibility standards.

  2. When using the tab key navigate around form fields and links, the functionality of Squarespace provides a built-in focus outline feature that highlights items on a page, the focus outline is standard across all sites and pages. It's not possible to customize the line’s color or thickness.
    This may mean that for some users the visibility of the focus does not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.7 (Focus Visible). This is a limitation of the squarespace platform beyond our control. Once squarespace improves this accessibility feature we will implement changes to our site.

  3. Improper use of heading tags – Heading tags provide vision-impaired users with information on how a page is organized. Generally, this will go from top to bottom, left to right.
    The squarespace platform uses modular blocks to place content within pages which may create missing, disorganized, or multiple heading tags. This means that some areas of our site do not meet WCAG 2.1 success criterion 2.4.10 (Section Headings).
    We make our best attempts to use heading tags properly to organise content in a meaningful hierarchy despite limitations of the platform, please contact us if you experience any specific problems and we will reply to you within 3 days.

  4. Squarespace does not provide a method for users to resize text which fails to meet the WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 1.4.4 (Resize text). This is a limitation if the Squarspace CMS platform beyond our control without an disproportionate burden. When Squarespace provides additional accessibility support we will implement into the site.
    However, most modern browsers and operating systems allow for text to be resized without the need for any additional accessibility equipment or software.
    We have created a guide on how you can resize text and images using your browser or operating system here.

How we tested our documents:

We last tested a sample of our documents on 17/2/2022. The test was carried out by ourselves using the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, the WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool, a colour contrast analyser, and other developer tools.

We tested a representative sample of all our content, documents, and webpages, plus a higher proportion of content and elements that relate directly to the services we provide aimed at people with disabilities.

What we’re doing to improve accessibility:

As an organisation dedicated to helping people with disabilities we aim to continually evolve our site’s accessibility. Our current size and budget means that the maintenance and administration of our site is entirely volunteer based. There are accessibility limitations within the Squarespace CMS that will affect some users, but we believe the CMS is currently our best available tool to provide our service and that leaving the squarespace platform to commission a custom-built site would cause us a disproportionate burden. With growth and experience we will be able to improve our site’s accessibility using feedback from users, improvements to the platform, and new software or tools.

This page was prepared on 17/2/2022.