Accessibility
Accessibility at Pillow Care
What we are aiming for
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2, Level AA, across the whole product — not only the public pages.
This matters more here than on most sites. A large share of the people arranging care are older, are tired, are doing it in a hurry, or are managing a disability of their own. Somebody who cannot use this platform has to arrange care some other way, at exactly the moment that is hardest.
Where we actually are
We do not claim conformance. No formal accessibility audit has been carried out yet, so we cannot honestly tell you this product meets Level AA, and we are not going to say it does because the sentence looks good.
The specification we work to lists five ways of testing accessibility. One of them has been done. Here is each of them, and it is the least useful one that is finished:
The five ways of testing, and where each stands
Automated checksDone
axe-core against the WCAG 2.2 Level A and AA rule set, over 13 public pages and 11 component suites, on every change. Currently no violations. This is the method that finds the fewest real barriers.
Keyboard-onlyNot done
No systematic pass. Focus indicators and focus trapping are enforced in the shared components and tested there, which is not the same as somebody completing a booking without a mouse.
Screen readerNot done
Nobody has worked through the journeys with NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver or TalkBack.
Zoom, reflow and contrastNot done
Colour contrast is checked numerically against the design tokens, so a ratio cannot drift below the threshold unnoticed. Behaviour at 200% and 400% zoom, and at 320 CSS pixels wide, has not been verified on real devices.
Testing with disabled peopleNot done
Nobody who relies on assistive technology, and no older adult with low digital confidence, has been asked to use this and tell us what went wrong. This is the test that matters most and it is the one we have not run.
On target sizes: we build to 44 x 44 CSS pixels on touch devices, which is success criterion 2.5.5 Target Size (Enhanced) — Level AAA. The Level AA criterion, 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum), asks for 24 x 24. We mention it because calling the larger figure “AA” would still be describing it as something it is not.
What else we know is not right yet
No formal audit
Nobody independent has assessed this product against WCAG 2.2. Until that happens we cannot tell you it conforms, and we will not.
Older pages are less consistent
Parts of the product were built before the shared components existed and still carry their own markup. They are being moved over, and they are the places most likely to have a problem.
Video has no captions or transcripts
Introduction videos and video interviews do not currently carry captions or transcripts.
Pages that need an account are less covered
The automated checks reach public pages and shared components. Screens behind sign-in are checked through their components rather than as whole pages.
If something here does not work for you
Tell us. You do not need to know what the problem is called, and you do not need to describe it in technical terms — “I cannot get past the date field” is a complete report.
What happens then. A person reads it. We will reply to say we have received it and whether we can fix it, and if we cannot fix it quickly we will tell you that rather than going quiet. If the barrier is stopping you arranging care right now, say so at the top and we will help you do it another way — including by phone.
We are a small team in an Ontario pilot, so we answer in hours rather than minutes.
Getting help another way
Nothing on this platform has to be done online. If it would be easier to arrange care with somebody on the phone, or you need information in another format, ask us and we will arrange it. That offer is not conditional on you explaining why.
When this page changes
When the audit has been done, this page will say what it found — including the parts that failed. If you are reading a claim of conformance here one day, it will be because somebody assessed it, and we will say who and when.
The automated figure above (13 pages, 11 component suites) is checked against the tests that produce it, so it cannot quietly become out of date while this page keeps claiming it.