Accessibility Statement

Conformance status

This website is designed to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. These standards cover keyboard navigation, visible focus indicators, sufficient color contrast, semantic landmarks, meaningful alternative text for images, and a logical heading structure. We consider the site substantially conformant, with the exceptions listed under known limitations below.

How this site is tested

Accessibility is verified on every change rather than reviewed once. Both of the following run before any update reaches this site.

• Automated: every page template is checked with axe-core against the WCAG 2.1 A and AA rule sets, plus the Section 508 rules, in a real browser at both desktop and mobile widths. Interactive states are included, such as the mobile menu opened, a navigation dropdown expanded, and the contact form after a failed submission. A single violation fails the build and blocks the deployment.
• Manual: keyboard-only navigation from the skip link through the footer, screen reader review of landmarks and heading order in both English and Spanish, the page at 200 percent browser zoom combined with the text size control, and the site under an operating system setting of reduced motion. Automated tools catch only part of what matters, so this pass is what confirms the site is genuinely usable.

Accessibility features

• A skip link that moves keyboard focus directly to the main content of every page.
• One main landmark per page, uniquely named navigation regions, and a heading outline that begins at the page title with no skipped levels.
• A focus indicator that stays visible against both the light page background and the dark navy header and footer, and that survives Windows High Contrast Mode.
• Body text and interactive controls that meet or exceed the 4.5 to 1 text and 3 to 1 non-text contrast minimums.
• A text size control that scales the whole page up to 125 percent, remembered between visits and applied before the page paints.
• Full English and Spanish content, including the accessible names of landmarks and controls.
• Touch targets of at least 44 by 44 pixels throughout.
• No automatically moving content, and all remaining transitions are disabled when the operating system requests reduced motion.
• Form fields with persistent visible labels, errors announced through an error summary, and no reliance on color alone to convey meaning.

Known limitations

We would rather name these plainly than claim full conformance. Each one is something we can help with directly in the meantime.

• Downloadable documents are provided as plain PDFs and are not tagged to the PDF/UA standard. If you need the contents of any form or agenda in an accessible format, contact us and we will provide it as accessible HTML, large print, or plain text.
• The language toggle changes the page in place rather than switching to a separate Spanish web address, so a Spanish version cannot yet be bookmarked or shared as its own link.
• Site search matches on words rather than meaning, so a phrase that does not appear in the page text may return nothing even when a relevant page exists. The site map lists every page as an alternative.

Alternate formats

Any information on this website is available in large print, plain text, or another format on request, at no charge. Requests are typically fulfilled within five business days.

Report a barrier

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of this website. If you encounter an accessibility barrier, please let us know using the contact form so we can address it. Contact Bellwood Public Works.