Our Goal
As this site was initially built and as it is updated and refined over time, we strive to maintain a focus on ensuring:
- proper and simple HTML usage
- that text has a high contrast with its background
- that text is broken up into sections with headings and bulleted lists
- consistent use of simple language
- thorough use of alternate text for images
- that links are never empty
- that all forms employ input labels that can be completed entirely through keyboard manipulations
- that link text is discernible/understandable. That is, the link text explains where the link takes the visitor to.
Our Approach
The W3C's Web Content Accessibility 2 Guidelines are the basis for our approach to accessibility. These guidelines include many considerations for how well a website accomplishes accessibility objectives. We are taking an approach that moves us forward by focusing on specific, accomplishable objectives, rather that a broad look at every aspect of accessibility, all at once. Our current focus areas help ensure that:
- The HTML we use is simple
- The site uses easy-to-understand language
- There are no dead links ... all links get to their intended target pages
- All images have meaningful alt text.
Testing
We test our website's accessibility on at least a monthly basis, by:
- spot-checking the Google Lighthouse Accessibility score of a number of different pages on the site. Thus far, our checks have been consistently in the 85% to 100% accessibility range.
- running an analysis tool that checks for broken links, and fixing any that are found.
- running readability tests to ensure text is written more at an 8th grade level then an "academic paper" level. Our sample webfx reading level measurements thus far indicate our pages should be easily understood by 12 to 13 year olds.
Feedback, Please
If you use assistive technology (such as a Braille reader, or a screen reader) and the format of any material on this website interferes with your ability to access information, please contact us. To enable us to respond in a manner most helpful to you, please indicate:
- the nature of your accessibility problem,
- the preferred format in which to receive the material,
- the web address of the material being accessed,
- and your contact information.