Crisis strives to create satisfying digital experiences free of barriers.  

• We take an accessibility-first approach 

• We acknowledge our weaknesses 

• We listen when challenged and are ready to acknowledge where we need to pivot 

• Nothing for us without us. We endeavor to involve users and have a user-first approach including testing 

The Crisis website was built in 2017 to comply with the World Wide Web Consortiums WCAG A standard. It is built using XHTML and cascading style sheets, resulting in a fast loading website that is accessible to screen readers. 

How we’re improving accessibility  

We conducted automatic and manual testing as part of an accessibility audit in December 2023. The failures identified mainly came under the “Perceivable” and “Operable” WCAG principles. Visually impaired users and those who navigate websites using only the keyboard are the most affected by the issues found. 

A selection of issues we are focusing on:  

Text 

• We are working to ensure that font size, weight and colour contrast meet AA standard – we have increased standardized sizes across the site and changed colours to meet contrast requirements.  

Images and design 

• We aim for all images to have appropriate alt tags and are working to build the addition of these into our editorial processes. Alt tags provide screen reader users and those with images turned off with a description of the content of the picture. Please let us know if they are missing.  

• We have removed a lot of visual clutter and improved spacing, so information is easier to find and process (still in progress). 

Visibility of links 

• Links are now underlined with a hover state  

• Links have alt text, and the alt text accurately describes what each link does 

• Removed invisible links / made them visible. 

Menu 

• We have added a "Skip to" navigation element. This means the site can be navigated by keyboard users, without having to tab through all individual elements in the menu and sub-menu to get to the page contents. 

Keyboard navigation 

• We are working on ensuring that all important content has adequate highlight focus 

• We have made it easier to interact with maps using only the keyboard. 

Text/sound alternative to video 

• All future Crisis videos will include built-in captions and subtitles to make them accessible for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. We are firmly committed to this goal, but it won't be possible to undertake an historic overhaul of audio/video assets. 

Forms 

• We have ensured the fields in forms are clearly labelled, and errors in forms are flagged before a form can be submitted (still in progress). 

• Reviewed adding tick boxes and dropdowns with suggested answers to forms. 

Other 

• We have removed text transitions, animations and unnecessary motion from the site (e.g. links that cause the screen to scroll) 

 

Known problems with the website 

Many areas are ‘works in progress’. Some areas of particular challenge include: 

PDFs  

• Some PDFs and documents are not accessible to screen reader software. 

Graphs  

• Not accessible for some users 

 

Contact us if you have problems using this site 

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of our site, so if you find anything on the site difficult to use, please contact our Supporter Care team.  

• Telephone: 08000 384838 

• Email: supporter.helpline@crisis.org.uk 

To help us understand the problem as quickly as we can, please: 

• Outline the problem  

• Share the web address or title of the page where you found a problem 

• Share what device and software you use 

All constructive feedback about the accessibility or usability of our site is welcome.  

We review this accessibility statement on an annual basis each June.