Accessibility Statement
Accessibility Policy of PCW Designs
PCW Designs is committed to ensuring that our own website, and the websites we design and build for our clients, are accessible to as many people as possible regardless of their ability or disability. We believe that the internet should be open and usable for everyone, including those with visual, hearing, motor, or cognitive impairments. This policy sets out our approach to web accessibility and applies to all websites we create or maintain.
Our websites are designed to aim for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at level AA. These are internationally recognised standards that explain how to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities. We follow these guidelines when building new websites, and we also test existing websites to identify and fix accessibility barriers wherever reasonably possible.
When we build a website for a client, we take the following steps to improve accessibility. We use proper HTML heading structures so that screen reader users can navigate pages logically. We add descriptive alt text to all meaningful images. We ensure that all functionality is available from a keyboard alone, without requiring a mouse. We maintain sufficient colour contrast between text and backgrounds. We avoid using colour alone to convey important information. We also make sure that forms have clear labels and error messages that can be read by assistive technologies.
We recognise that accessibility is not always perfect, especially when clients supply their own content after our work is complete. We encourage our clients to continue our accessibility efforts by writing clear link text, providing alt text for new images they upload, and avoiding PDFs where a standard web page would be more accessible. Where we are contracted to maintain a website, we will actively monitor and improve its accessibility over time.
Our own company website includes an accessibility statement and a way for visitors to report any problems they encounter. If you have difficulty using our website or any website we have built for a client, please contact us at [email address] or by phone on [phone number]. We will respond to accessibility complaints within five working days and will aim to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
We provide accessibility training to our design and development team so that they understand WCAG requirements and know how to build accessible websites from the start. We also review our internal processes regularly to ensure accessibility remains a priority rather than an afterthought.
This policy applies to all new websites we build. For existing client websites that were built before this policy took effect, we will work with clients to improve accessibility on a reasonable timescale and budget. We do not retrospectively rebuild old websites for free, but we will provide a quote for any accessibility improvements requested.
Nothing in this policy guarantees that every third-party tool, plugin, or content management system we use will be fully accessible. However, we choose our tools carefully and will replace any that create significant, unfixable accessibility barriers.
We review this Accessibility Policy every twelve months and update it as WCAG guidelines evolve or as our working practices change. The latest version will always be available on our website. This policy was last updated on [date].
If you have any questions about our Accessibility Policy or wish to report an accessibility issue, please contact us at admin@pcwdesigns.co.uk