Accessibility

Commitment

ESCA works with public authorities, which are themselves subject to accessibility obligations. A platform that public servants cannot use would be a poor advertisement for the work.

This website is built to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, version 2.2, at level AA. That is the target the European accessibility framework for public sector bodies uses, and ESCA applies it to itself whether or not it is formally in scope.

What has been done

• Semantic HTML throughout: headings in order, lists as lists, tables with header cells and scopes.
• Every interactive element reachable and operable by keyboard, in a logical order.
• A visible focus indicator on every focusable element. It is never removed.
• A skip link to the main content as the first focusable element on every page.
• Form fields with real labels, errors announced through aria-invalid and described by text, and an error summary that receives focus on a failed submission.
• Colour never used as the only carrier of meaning: project stages carry a number and a name as well as a colour.
• Text contrast meeting the AA thresholds against every surface used.
• Data visualisations accompanied by the underlying figures in text or in a list.
• Motion suppressed for visitors whose system requests reduced motion.
• Layouts that reflow to 320 pixels wide without a horizontal scroll, with wide tables scrolling inside their own container.
• Text that can be resized to 200 per cent without loss of content or function.

Known limitations

The European coverage plot is a coordinate visualisation. It is marked as decorative for assistive technology and every point on it is also listed in text beneath it, which is the authoritative version of that data.

A formal third-party accessibility audit has not yet been carried out on this platform. Until it has, this statement records the standard applied and the testing done, not a certified conformance claim.

DEMO / REPLACE WITH VERIFIED DATA

How this was tested

Keyboard-only navigation, browser zoom to 200 per cent and 400 per cent, reduced-motion and small-viewport testing, and automated checks of contrast and semantic structure during development.

Reporting a barrier

Alternative formats

Reports, project detail and funding assessments can be provided in an alternative format on request, including plain text and large print.