Accessibility

One

WCAG 2.1 AA is the standard

The site is designed to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, version 2.1, at the AA conformance level. That covers contrast, readable type, keyboard navigation, screen-reader support, and the dozens of smaller requirements that together make a site usable for people who interact with the web in different ways.

2.1 AA is the standard most often referenced in UK accessibility law and is the working baseline used by hospices, charities, and public-sector organisations that recommend tools to families. We hold the marketing site to that standard so that anyone is comfortable pointing someone at it.

Two

What this site is built for

The site is read on phones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers, by people using touch, mouse, keyboard, and screen readers. The layout reflows on narrow screens. Type is sized for older eyes as the default, not as an opt-in. Headings follow a logical order so a screen reader can move through a page sensibly. Every interactive element is reachable by keyboard alone.

There are no auto-playing sounds, no flashing content, no time-limited reading windows, and no infinite-scroll patterns that interfere with assistive technology.

Three

Two design choices we have enumerated

There are two places on the site where an automated accessibility checker may flag something. Both are deliberate design choices, both meet the relevant WCAG 2.1 AA criteria for their context, and we name them here so anyone running a check has the full picture.

The small green capital letters used as section labels - the lines like "Recently recorded" or "What we believe" that sit above headings - use a soft bracken green on the linen background. The contrast ratio is 4.20 to 1. WCAG 2.1 AA requires 4.5 to 1 for normal body text and 3 to 1 for large text, defined as 18-point regular or 14-point bold. The bracken-green labels are only ever used at sizes that qualify as large text, so 4.20 to 1 comfortably exceeds the relevant threshold. We name it because some automated tools measure against the body-text threshold by default.

The faint brown dividing lines between items - the hairlines that separate one recently-recorded item from the next, or sit beneath a brand row - are walnut brown at between 8 and 30 per cent opacity. The contrast against the linen background is well below 3 to 1, which would fail the threshold if these lines carried meaning. They do not. They are decorative. Each item is also separated by space and typography, and the page reads correctly with the lines removed. WCAG 2.1 SC 1.4.11 only requires the 3 to 1 ratio for graphical objects that are necessary to understand content, so these decorative rules are exempt.

Four

How we test

Every page is checked at build time against a static accessibility audit covering colour contrast, alternative text on images, form labels, heading order, and the structure of links and buttons. Skip-to-content links are present on every page so a keyboard user can move past the header without tabbing through every navigation item.

Before any larger launch, the site is also checked manually using a real browser with Lighthouse and axe DevTools, and with a screen reader to confirm that the announced reading flow makes sense. Where a check surfaces a real problem, we fix it. Where a check surfaces one of the two enumerated design choices above, we leave it.

Five

If something is harder to use than it should be

If you encounter a barrier on the Penmora site - something that is hard to read, hard to navigate, or hard to use with assistive technology - please tell us. We treat accessibility feedback as a real problem to fix, not as a comment to file.

Email hello@penmora.com with a short description of the problem and, if you can, the page you were on and the device or assistive technology you were using. We aim to acknowledge accessibility messages within two working days.