Accessibility Statement

I want as many people as possible to be able to use this website. I have built it to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.2 at level AA, which is the recognised international standard.

What that means in practice

You should be able to navigate the whole site using a keyboard, use it with a screen reader, zoom in to 400 per cent without content being lost, and read the text at the contrast levels the standard requires. 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 panel of nine settings that change how this site looks on your device: text size, more space between lines and letters, a simpler typeface, higher contrast, solid rather than see-through panels, 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.

You might want reading to be a bit easier with more space between lines, or a plainer typeface. You might find movement on screen uncomfortable, or want a clearer sense of where you are when using a keyboard, or find buttons easier to hit when they are a little bigger. You do not need a reason to use any of these settings. Using any of these settings tells me nothing about you. I don't see what you've changed, and it has no bearing on anything about your enquiry or our sessions. If a setting makes this site easier to use, 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 build work itself, 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 issues

[KNOWN ISSUES — PENDING TEST PASSES. The five accessibility test passes (automated scan, keyboard, screen reader, zoom/contrast, reduced motion) have not yet been run on this build. This section will list anything found, in plain language, with what's being done and by when — or will state plainly that nothing was found, once testing is complete.]

If you need information in a different format

If you need anything on this site in a different format, such as large print, plain text, or read out to you over the phone, contact me at rowena@safarcounselling.co.uk and I will provide it. Tell me the format you need and I will do my best to get it to you within 2 to 3 working days.

Telling me about a problem

If you find something on this website that you cannot use, please email rowena@safarcounselling.co.uk. Tell me the page and what happened, and I will look into it and come back to you.

How this site was tested

[TESTING PENDING. This site's accessibility passes have not yet been run. This section will record the test date, who tested, which page templates were covered, and the methods used (automated tools, keyboard-only navigation, screen reader, manual contrast and zoom checks, and a reduced motion pass) once testing is complete.]