Built to be usable, with room to improve

Our commitment

Ulster Helps exists to put community resources in front of people who need them, including people who use screen readers, keyboards instead of pointers, low-vision settings, switch devices, or speech input. We aim for WCAG 2.1 Level AAon the public pages (homepage, directory, category pages, resource details, suggestion form, and these informational pages). The admin tooling holds the same target where it doesn't conflict with workflow density.

What we have built in

• Semantic HTML. Headings, landmarks (header, main, nav, footer), lists, and labeled form controls — not div soup. Screen readers can outline a page and jump between regions.
• Keyboard support throughout. Every interactive element is reachable with Tab, activatable with Enter or Space, and exposes a visible focus ring. The login flow, accept-invite flow, review queue, and suggest form all work without a mouse.
• Color contrast. Body text against cream, paper, and moss-deep backgrounds is checked against the WCAG AA contrast threshold (4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text and UI components). Rust accents on cream are used for emphasis but not as the only signal — links are also underlined on hover.
• Form labels and error messages. Every input has an associated label. Validation messages render inline near the field they refer to, in red text with a role="alert" attribute so screen readers announce them.
• Status updates."Saved", "Copied!", and similar confirmations use role="status" so they are announced without stealing focus.
• Reduced motion. The animated word cycle in the homepage hero respects prefers-reduced-motion and renders the full list of words as static text when the user has the system preference on.
• Click targets sized for touch. Buttons, navigation links, and the directory card hit areas are at least 44 × 44 CSS pixels on phones.
• Phone numbers as links. Resource phone numbers are tel: links that activate the dialer on mobile devices and the default phone app on desktop.
• Skip-able structure. The crisis bar at the top of the page is short and high-contrast so it works for someone scanning quickly with assistive tech, including a screen reader that reads top-to-bottom.
• Plain language.The directory copy, button labels, and form hints avoid jargon. We use sentence case rather than title case so that screen readers don't mispronounce headings.

What we know we still need to improve

• Skip-to-content link.The site currently does not have a "skip to main content" link that appears on first Tab. We'll add one.
• QR code on the invite-acceptance screen.The MFA setup QR code is rendered as an image with descriptive alt text, but the manual secret is what a non-sighted user actually needs. It's shown in a collapsed <details>element — better signposting from the QR area to the manual secret would help.
• Color is sometimes a single signal.Form validation uses red text plus a role on the message, but a small icon next to invalid fields would make the state clearer for users who don't process the color cue.
• Page titles. Most pages set their own <title>already; we're still reviewing to confirm every dynamic route does.

This list reflects what we know about today; we add to it whenever something is reported.

How we test

• Keyboard-only review of every public flow: homepage navigation, browsing the directory, filtering, opening a resource, and submitting a suggestion
• Screen reader spot checks on the same flows
• Light- and dark-mode contrast checks against the WCAG AA threshold
• Lighthouse and the WAVE browser extension on each new public page

Browser and assistive tech support

The site is built on web standards and is tested in current versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari, on macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android. We aim for it to work with screen readers (VoiceOver, NVDA, JAWS), zoom up to 200%, and Windows High Contrast mode.

If something doesn’t work for you

Please tell us. Even small reports help — "the search input is missing a label in [browser]" or "the focus ring is invisible on the green buttons" — those are exactly the things we want to know.

Email wellnessinfo@mhainulster.com with what you tried to do, what happened, and what device / browser / assistive technology you were using. If you'd like a reply by phone instead, leave a number and a good time to reach you.

We try to acknowledge accessibility reports within five business days and fix them as fast as we can. If the problem is preventing you from getting to a resource you need, MHA in Ulster can also help over the phone — please say so.

Standards we follow

We aim for the AA conformance level of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1.