Accessibility statement

I built this for grandparents and other relatives in their fifties, sixties and seventies. That is who I designed for, not who I know is here: I do not count visitors. Accessibility is the core use case on a site like this, not a compliance exercise.

What I aim for

I aim to meet WCAG 2.2 Level AA on every page, and I exceed it in a few places where it matters for this audience.

• Body text is 18px, never below 16px anywhere, including footnotes and disclaimers.
• Body text contrast is at least 7:1, which is the AAA threshold rather than AA's 4.5:1.
• The site works at 200% zoom, and at 320px wide, with no sideways scrolling.
• Every button and link is at least 48×48 pixels, with space around it.
• Focus outlines are always visible and are never removed.
• Everything works with a keyboard alone. There are no keyboard traps and no time limits.
• Money fields are plain text fields, not number spinners, which are awkward with a screen reader and with shaky hands.
• The site respects your system setting for reduced motion. Nothing moves or advances on its own.

How I test

Automated accessibility checks run against every page each time I change the site, and a failure stops the change being published. I also test by keyboard alone, and with screen readers.

Without JavaScript

Every guide and every rate table works with JavaScript switched off. The calculator itself needs it, and says so. But the figures it would have shown you are on the rates page as plain tables.

Known limitations

• The council picker is a long list. If a searchable version would help you, please tell me. I would rather hear about it than guess.
• Printed output is designed for A4 and US Letter. Very small paper sizes may cut off wide tables.

If something does not work

Please tell me. Say what you were trying to do and what happened. Accessibility problems go to the top of my list, and I will tell you what I am doing about it.