Display options

These change how this site looks in your browser and are remembered on this device. They do not replace your own browser or device settings, which apply everywhere and will usually do more.

Text size
Reading
Colour and clarity
Movement and controls
Accessibility statement

Accessibility Statement

Safar Counselling

Effective date: to be set at launch

I want this website to be usable by as many people as possible, whatever technology they use. This page explains what I've done to keep the site accessible, where I know it falls short, and how to reach me if something isn't working for you.

How I've built this site

This website has been designed to follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at level AA as far as reasonably possible. In practice that means:

  • The site works on a keyboard alone, with a visible focus indicator, so you don't need a mouse.
  • Text and background colours are chosen to meet AA contrast levels.
  • The content is written in plain language and structured with clear headings.
  • The page content is present and readable even if JavaScript is turned off.
  • If you've asked your device to reduce motion, animations are minimised.
  • The layout adapts to phones, tablets, and desktops, and text can be enlarged in your browser without breaking the page.
  • Images that carry meaning have text descriptions.

Display options, and why this site has them

There is a Display options button in the corner of every page, and another at the bottom of this one. It opens a small panel of settings that change how this site looks on your device: text size, more space between lines and letters, a simpler typeface, higher contrast, a solid rather than see-through menu bar, a stronger outline around whatever you have selected, underlined links, less movement, and larger areas to tap.

I added it because a website has one appearance that has to work for everybody, and no single appearance does. Someone reading on a phone in bright sunlight, someone whose eyes tire by the end of the day, someone who finds movement on screen uncomfortable, and someone using a keyboard rather than a mouse all need something slightly different from the same page. Rather than guess which of those you are, I would rather let you say.

It may help if you have low vision, if you read more comfortably with more spacing or a plainer typeface, if movement on screen makes you feel unwell, if you use a keyboard and lose track of where you are, or if a hand tremor makes small buttons hard to hit. You do not need any of those reasons to use it, and you are not telling me anything about yourself by doing so. If a setting makes this site easier to read, that is reason enough.

Your choices are remembered on the device you are using, in your browser's own storage. Nothing is sent to me and I cannot see what you have set. The panel has a Reset all button that removes the record entirely, and the Cookie Policy sets out exactly what is stored.

What this panel is not. It is not an accessibility overlay, and it is not what makes this site accessible. It changes nothing about the underlying page: it does not alter what a screen reader announces, it does not add descriptions to images, and it does not change how anything is coded. The accessibility of this site is the work described above, and that work has to stand on its own with every one of these settings switched off. If this panel were ever the answer to whether the site is accessible, the answer would be no.

These settings also do not replace the accessibility features built into your own browser, phone or computer. Those apply to every website you visit and can usually do far more than I can, including magnification, screen readers and system wide colour changes. If you rely on those, this site is built to work with them.

Known limitations

I'm honest about the fact that no site is perfect. If any third-party tools are added in future (for example an online booking widget), parts of those tools may not fully meet the same standard, as I don't control how they're built. Where that happens, I'll always offer an alternative way to get the same thing done. See below.

If something isn't working for you

If you find any part of this site difficult to use, or you need information in a different format (for example large print or a plain-text email), please tell me. I'll do my best to help and to put things right.

You can also book or enquire by phone or email if the website isn't working for you. You never have to use the site to reach me.

How I'll respond

I aim to reply to accessibility requests as soon as I reasonably can. If you report a barrier, I'll let you know what I can do and when.

The law

I work in line with my duties under the Equality Act 2010, including making reasonable adjustments so that disabled people can access my services. If you'd like to discuss an adjustment before we start working together, please just ask.