Accessibility

What are we aiming for?

A site that works for someone navigating by keyboard, someone using a screen reader, someone who needs larger text or more contrast, and someone reading it one-handed on a phone in a warehouse. The standard we measure against is WCAG 2.2 at Level AA.

Accessibility here is treated as something to measure, not something to assert. Where this page makes a claim, it is because the behaviour was checked on the published pages rather than inferred from the way the site was built.

That also means this page names things that are still wrong. A statement listing nothing is usually a statement nobody tested.

This page covers the Ahearn & Soper website and its subdomains. It does not cover the hardware and software we sell, which carry their own accessibility documentation from their manufacturers.

Which standard does this site follow?

WCAG 2.2 at Level AA, together with the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

The site is partially conformant with WCAG 2.2 Level AA. Partially conformant means most of the site meets the standard and some parts do not yet. The exceptions we are aware of are listed below rather than left for you to discover.

Where our own standard is stricter than WCAG, we hold ourselves to ours. WCAG sets a minimum target size of 24 by 24 pixels at Level AA; we aim for 44 by 44, and we say below where we have not got there yet.

What has been built in?

Keyboard navigation, real landmarks, labelled form fields, measured colour contrast, and motion that respects your system setting.

Every page opens with a skip link that moves focus to the main content, in English and in French. Form fields carry visible labels that are programmatically tied to their input, so a screen reader announces the same words a sighted person reads. Headings run in order, and each region of the page is marked up as a landmark.

Colour contrast is measured against the surface each element actually sits on rather than an assumed background, which is how a few text colours that looked fine in the design were caught and corrected. Where an animation could cause discomfort, it is suppressed for anyone whose system asks for reduced motion.

What do we know is not right yet?

Four things, as of the last review. None of them is a reason to wait before telling us about a fifth.

Some controls, including the language toggle and the breadcrumb links, are 28 or 38 pixels tall rather than the 44 we aim for. They clear the WCAG Level AA minimum but not our own. A number of images in our library still carry no alternative text. And a small set of older partner campaign pages runs on earlier templates that have not yet been brought up to the standard of the rest of the site.

The French pages currently show English text in the body of the page. Until that is finished, a French speaker relying on this site is not served as well as an English speaker, and we would rather say so than let you find out.

Can you get the same information another way?

Yes. Ask, and we will send it in whatever format works for you, at no cost.

If a page, a document or a form on this site is not usable for you, we will provide the same information by email, over the phone, in large print, or as a plain text document. Tell us which format helps and we will use it.

How do you tell us something does not work?

Email marketing@ahearn.com and say what you were trying to do and what happened.

Tell us the page, what you were using to read it, whether that is a screen reader, a keyboard on its own or a phone, and what went wrong. We will acknowledge your feedback, tell you what we intend to do about it, and if the fix will take time we will get you the information another way in the meantime.

Ahearn & Soper Inc. Email: marketing@ahearn.com. This statement is reviewed whenever the site changes materially, and at least once a year.