Accessibility Statement

1. Our Commitment to Accessibility

At CritiqueHQ, we believe that useful, accurate consumer information should be accessible to everyone — including people who are blind or visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing, have motor disabilities, have cognitive or learning differences, or who rely on assistive technologies such as screen readers, keyboard navigation, or voice control software.

We are actively working to ensure that CritiqueHQ.com conforms to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at Level AA, as published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). These guidelines explain how to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities, and form the basis of accessibility legislation in many countries worldwide.

We regard accessibility as an ongoing commitment, not a one-time project. As our Site evolves, we continuously evaluate and improve our content and technical implementation to remove barriers and improve the experience for all users.

2. Current Conformance Status

CritiqueHQ.com is currently partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Partially Conformant

“Partially conformant” means that some portions of the content do not fully conform to the accessibility standard. We are actively identifying and addressing these gaps as part of an ongoing accessibility improvement programme.

3. Accessibility Features on CritiqueHQ

We have implemented — or are in the process of implementing — the following accessibility features across the Site:

Structure & Semantics

• Use of semantic HTML5 elements (<header>, <main>, <nav>, <article>, <footer>) to convey document structure to assistive technologies.
• Logical heading hierarchy (H1 through H3) used consistently throughout all pages to aid navigation.
• Descriptive page titles on every page to support orientation and browser tab management.
• Language attribute (lang="en") set on the root HTML element to enable correct screen reader pronunciation.

Visual Design

• Colour contrast ratios between foreground text and background colours are maintained at a minimum of 4.5:1 for body text (WCAG AA requirement) across core content areas.
• Text does not convey information by colour alone — visual distinctions are supported by text labels, icons, or patterns where relevant.
• Body text size of 14px with a line height of 1.8, chosen to support comfortable readability and reduce visual fatigue.
• The Site layout is responsive and designed to reflow cleanly at zoom levels up to 200% without horizontal scrolling.

Images & Media

• Meaningful images include descriptive alt text that conveys the purpose or content of the image to screen reader users.
• Decorative images use empty alt="" attributes so that screen readers skip them appropriately.
• We are working to ensure all embedded video content includes captions or transcripts where available.

Navigation & Interaction

• All interactive elements (links, buttons) are designed to be operable via keyboard alone, without requiring a mouse or touch input.
• Visible focus indicators are present on interactive elements to assist keyboard navigation users.
• Skip-to-content links are implemented to allow keyboard users to bypass repeated navigation and jump directly to main content.
• Links are written to be descriptive and meaningful out of context, avoiding generic labels such as “click here” or “read more.”

Tables

• Data tables use proper <th> header cells with scope attributes to define relationships between headers and data cells for screen reader users.
• Tables include data-label attributes on data cells for responsive display on small screens, ensuring information remains accessible on mobile devices.

4. Known Accessibility Limitations

While we are committed to full WCAG 2.1 AA conformance, we are aware of certain limitations that we are actively working to address. Known issues include:

If you encounter an accessibility barrier not listed above, please let us know — your feedback directly informs our remediation priorities.

5. Assistive Technology Compatibility

CritiqueHQ.com is designed to be compatible with the following assistive technologies and user environments:

• Screen readers: NVDA with Mozilla Firefox (Windows), JAWS with Google Chrome (Windows), VoiceOver with Safari (macOS and iOS), TalkBack with Chrome (Android).
• Keyboard navigation: Full keyboard operability using Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter, and arrow keys.
• Screen magnification: Content is designed to reflow gracefully at up to 200% browser zoom without loss of content or functionality.
• High contrast mode: The Site is compatible with Windows High Contrast Mode and macOS increased contrast settings.
• Voice control: Content is designed to support voice control software including Dragon NaturallySpeaking and Apple Voice Control.

Our Site is built to render correctly on all modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) and across desktop, tablet, and mobile viewports.

6. Applicable Legislation and Standards

Our accessibility programme is informed by the following legislation and standards applicable to our primary audience markets:

• United States: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, and evolving DOJ guidance on web accessibility.
• United Kingdom: The Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018.
• European Union: The Web Accessibility Directive (Directive 2016/2102/EU) and the European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882).
• International: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA, published by the W3C — the internationally recognised benchmark for digital accessibility.

We monitor developments in accessibility legislation and standards and update our practices accordingly.

7. Our Ongoing Accessibility Improvement Programme

Achieving and maintaining high accessibility standards is a continuous process. Our current improvement activities include:

• Periodic manual and automated accessibility audits of core pages and content templates using tools including Axe, WAVE, and Lighthouse.
• Regular review of newly published content against our accessibility checklist before publication.
• Remediation of legacy content on a prioritised rolling basis, with focus on high-traffic pages first.
• Training for editorial and web development contributors on accessible content creation practices.
• Evaluation and replacement of non-conformant third-party tools with accessible alternatives where feasible.
• Incorporating user feedback from people with disabilities directly into our improvement priorities.

8. Accessibility Feedback and Complaints

We genuinely want to hear from you if you experience any accessibility barriers on CritiqueHQ. Your feedback is the most valuable tool we have for identifying issues and improving the experience for all users.

If you encounter a problem accessing any content or functionality on this Site, or if you would like to request content in an alternative accessible format, please contact us:

When contacting us about an accessibility issue, please include as much detail as possible — including the URL of the page where you experienced the issue, a description of the problem, the assistive technology or browser you were using, and the operating system you were on. This helps us investigate and resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

9. Changes to This Accessibility Statement

We review and update this Accessibility Statement at least annually, or whenever significant changes are made to the Site’s structure, design, or content. We will update the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page when revisions are made.

We encourage you to revisit this page periodically to stay informed of our current accessibility status and commitments.