Accessibility

Effective date: 2026-07-27 · Version: 1.0 · Last reviewed: 2026-07-27

Our commitment

Expeal serves people navigating the criminal-record clearance process — an audience for whom access barriers are not an edge case. Accessibility is a design constraint we build under, not a feature we add later.

We want everyone to be able to read, understand, and use this site — regardless of vision, motor ability, cognition, device, or connection quality.

The standard we target

We target WCAG 2.2 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), Level AA across the site. Where we can exceed it cheaply — larger text, higher contrast, bigger touch targets — we do.

What we've built

• A hyperlegible typeface. The site is set in Atkinson Hyperlegible Next, a typeface designed by the Braille Institute for maximum character distinction for low-vision readers. It is self-hosted — no font network requests to third parties.
• Verified color contrast. Every text and interface color pairing is checked against WCAG contrast thresholds by an automated gate on every build — the build fails if a pairing regresses.
• Keyboard and no-JavaScript operability. Interactive elements (the navigation menu, the state switcher) are built on native HTML disclosure widgets. They work with a keyboard alone and with JavaScript disabled.
• Visible focus. Keyboard focus is always visible, with a consistent focus-ring treatment verified by our test suite.
• Touch-friendly targets. Key interactive controls carry a 48-pixel minimum target-size commitment, enforced by our test suite.
• Reduced motion respected. The site honors your operating system's reduced-motion preference; animation is restrained everywhere and disabled entirely when you ask for it.
• Semantic structure. Pages use semantic HTML with proper landmarks and heading order, so screen readers and other assistive technology can navigate reliably.
• Plain language. We write for a lay audience and avoid legal jargon where a plain word exists.

How we test

Accessibility checks run automatically on every build (contrast, template anti-patterns, link integrity). New interactive patterns additionally get manual verification against the ARIA Authoring Practices and screen-reader passes before they ship.

Known limitations

The site is under active development. Some pages are placeholders while their real content is prepared; those pages carry minimal content but inherit the same accessible chrome (navigation, footer, structure) as the rest of the site. If you hit a barrier anywhere — placeholder or not — we want to know.

Tell us about a barrier

If any part of this site is hard to use with your assistive technology, or you spot an accessibility problem of any kind, email contact@expeal.com with the page address and a short description of what went wrong. We aim to respond within five business days.

If you need information from this site in an alternative format, ask — we will do our best to provide it.

About this statement

This statement is versioned (see the change log below) and reviewed as the site evolves. The effective date above reflects the current version.