Accessibility Statement

1. Our Commitment to Accessibility

A News Time is committed to ensuring that our website and digital content are accessible to the widest possible audience, including people with disabilities. We believe that access to news and information is a fundamental right, and we are continuously working to improve the accessibility and usability of our platform for all users, regardless of ability or the technology they use.

2. Conformance Standard

We aim to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at Level AA, published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). These guidelines provide a framework for making web content more accessible to people with a wide range of disabilities, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, language, learning, and neurological disabilities.

While WCAG 2.2 Level AA is our target, we strive to meet Level AAA criteria where practical. We view accessibility as an ongoing effort rather than a one-time achievement, and we regularly review and update our practices.

3. Accessibility Features

Our website incorporates the following accessibility features:

Structure and Navigation

• Semantic HTML5 elements for meaningful document structure
• Proper heading hierarchy (H1–H6) to organise content logically
• ARIA landmarks and roles to help assistive technology users navigate efficiently
• Skip-to-content links to bypass repetitive navigation
• Consistent navigation patterns across all pages
• Breadcrumb trails for clear orientation within the site hierarchy

Visual Design

• Colour contrast ratios that meet or exceed WCAG 2.2 Level AA requirements (minimum 4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text)
• Information conveyed through colour is also available through text or other visual cues
• Responsive design that adapts to different screen sizes, orientations, and zoom levels up to 400%
• Support for user-defined text sizing and browser zoom without loss of content or functionality
• Dark mode support for users who prefer reduced luminance

Images and Media

• Descriptive alt text on all meaningful images (10–15 words, conveying the content and context of the image)
• Decorative images marked with empty alt attributes to be ignored by screen readers
• Text alternatives for any non-text content

Keyboard and Input

• All interactive elements are fully operable via keyboard alone
• Visible focus indicators on all focusable elements
• Logical tab order that follows the visual reading order
• No keyboard traps — users can navigate into and out of all components
• Touch targets sized to meet WCAG 2.2 minimum requirements (24x24 CSS pixels)

Forms and Interactive Elements

• All form controls have associated labels
• Error messages are descriptive and associated with the relevant form field
• Required fields are clearly indicated
• Autocomplete attributes used where appropriate to reduce user effort

4. Assistive Technology Compatibility

Our website is designed to be compatible with the following assistive technologies:

• Screen readers (including NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver, and TalkBack)
• Screen magnification software
• Speech recognition software
• Alternative input devices including switch controls and eye-tracking systems

We test with current versions of major browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) on desktop and mobile platforms, using both built-in accessibility tools and third-party assistive technologies.

5. Known Limitations

While we strive for comprehensive accessibility, we acknowledge the following limitations:

• Third-party content: Some embedded content from third-party services (such as social media embeds or advertising) may not fully meet accessibility standards. We work with our partners to improve this and provide alternative access where possible.
• Legacy content: Some older articles published before our current accessibility standards were adopted may have images without adequate alt text. We are working through our archive to update these progressively.
• PDF documents: Where PDFs are used, they may not be fully accessible. We aim to provide HTML alternatives where feasible.

6. Testing and Review

We conduct regular accessibility reviews using a combination of automated testing tools (such as axe-core and Lighthouse), manual testing with keyboard-only navigation and screen readers, and periodic reviews against WCAG 2.2 criteria. We incorporate accessibility testing into our development workflow to catch issues before they reach production.

7. Feedback and Contact

We welcome feedback on the accessibility of A News Time. If you encounter any barriers, have difficulty accessing any content, or have suggestions for how we can improve, please contact us:

• Email: help@anewstime.com
• Subject line: Accessibility Feedback

When reporting an accessibility issue, please include the URL of the page, a description of the issue, the browser and assistive technology you were using, and any other details that will help us reproduce and resolve the problem. We aim to respond to accessibility feedback within 5 working days and to resolve reported issues as quickly as possible.