Learn how we approach website accessibility, what we consider when building the site, the issues we know about, and how to report accessibility problems.
Assistive technology has come a very long way. It can make websites much easier to use, but it still depends on how those websites are built.
That said, website owners still have a responsibility to make those tools’ job easier.
Our attitude towards accessibility is one of consideration. We do not have a formal accessibility team, and we do not have a fully systematic process for checking every part of our website. Our resources are unfortunately limited in this regard.
Even so, we put thought into accessibility when building and reviewing the website, and we try to fix issues where we find them.
We have written this statement so you can see what we consider when building our website. Hopefully, some of it is pleasantly surprising.
For those it directly helps, please know that we will keep improving as we go. We also understand that some flows are still frustrating.
Who we are
This website is operated by Think Promote Limited. You can find us on Companies House under company registration number 08968414.
Our trading address is: Unit 20 Mackley Industrial Estate, Henfield Road, Small Dole, West Sussex, BN5 9XR.
Related Think Promote websites, including track.thinkpromote.co.uk and trade.thinkpromote.co.uk, were built earlier. The thinking and culture behind them is the same, but they may not be as up to date with the accessibility approach described here.
How accessible this site is
As mentioned above, we have taken steps to make this site more accessible. This section explains what we have focused on so far.
If you want the quick, honest answer, we have made a good start, but the site is still a long way from perfect.
Recently, we’ve found AI to be extremely helpful for reviewing our code for accessibility considerations, and we’ve started rolling this out more broadly. If you’re curious, you can read more about how we use AI here.
Semantic page structure, landmarks and accessible labels
We use semantic HTML patterns across the website, including main content areas, sections, articles, headings, figures and breadcrumb navigation. This helps browsers and assistive technologies understand how each page is organised.
In plain language, semantic HTML just means that, as we developed the site, we signposted what each part of a page is using specific HTML tags. For example, the main heading of a page is wrapped in an <h1> tag. You can learn more about semantic HTML here.
Some of these areas also work as page landmarks, including the main content, navigation and footer. This helps assistive technologies understand the main parts of a page and gives people a clearer structure to move through.
We also use a few related accessibility attributes. Decorative icons are marked as aria-hidden, so they are not announced when they do not add anything useful. Icon-only controls use labels that are available to screen readers, even when those labels are not visible on the page. The current breadcrumb step uses aria-current="page", and each page sets its language using lang.
This is good practice for many other reasons, so we do not claim too many brownie points for it. Nevertheless, it is still important for accessibility.
Keyboard focus states
Interactive elements, such as links and cards, are given visible keyboard focus styles in key templates, including article links, author links and cards. This helps people see where they are on the page when navigating without a mouse.
Alternative text for meaningful images
For images in articles, product listings and people profiles, we use alternative text, commonly referred to as alt text. This may include a product name, an article title or a person’s name, depending on the image. Decorative fallback icons are used where no profile image is available.
Responsive layouts and readable content
The website is built with responsive layouts that adapt across mobile, tablet and desktop screens. We also use consistent spacing, readable text sizes and clear content widths so pages remain usable at different screen sizes.
Reduced motion
We take account of reduced-motion settings in parts of the website that use animation or smooth scrolling.
In simple terms, this means using less movement when your system settings ask for it.
How you can evaluate accessibility
Wherever possible, it is best not to take our word for it. You can get a snapshot of some automated checks using Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool. It provides an accessibility score for any page of the website you choose, and it is always worth checking more than one page.
These tools are useful, but they do not tell the whole story. A high score does not show that every task works with a screen reader or that the site meets all accessibility guidelines.
If you want to give us another shake, you can also check a page in Firefox:
Right click the page.
Click Inspect.
Click the Accessibility tab.
Open the “Check for issues” menu.
Select “All issues”.
This is particularly useful for spotting poor colour contrast, missing labels and other finer accessibility issues.
An image showing what this looks like is included below.
Firefox’s Accessibility Inspector can highlight issues such as poor colour contrast, keyboard accessibility and missing text labels. In this example, it flags text that does not meet WCAG contrast guidance.
It helps if you can include the page you were on, what went wrong, and what device, browser or assistive technology you were using. You do not need to provide all of this, but it can help us understand and fix the issue more quickly.
We review accessibility issues as part of our wider website improvement work, but we cannot promise fast timelines for larger changes.
That said, if you are personally having trouble using our services because of an accessibility issue, we will try to help quickly. We may not always be able to change the wider website infrastructure straight away, but we can usually look for a practical way to help.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will publish the latest version on this page and update the reviewed date.
More information
Related pages
More information about how we run the website and handle data.
