Accessibility at SpecialNeeds.org

Our commitment

SpecialNeeds.org is committed to making disability and special-needs information accessible to the widest possible audience. We aim to conform to WCAG 2.2 Level AA and continue improving accessibility as the site grows.

Families who use this site include people who are blind or low vision, Deaf or hard of hearing, autistic, dyslexic, using a switch or voice control, exhausted, or reading on a phone in a waiting room. The site has to work for them, not merely pass a checklist.

We do not claim perfect compliance, and no formal third-party audit or certification has been performed.

What we have implemented

Each item below has been built and checked on our main public pages: the homepage, Browse by State, the Minnesota, Florida, New Jersey and Oklahoma Family Support Manuals, a manual section page, a resource page, a printable guide, search, conditions, funding and local help.

• A skip link to the main content, and a second one to search, first in the tab order on every page.
• One main landmark per page and a single, ordered heading structure.
• Every control we tested reachable and operable by keyboard alone, with a visible focus outline in both light and dark appearance.
• No forced tab order: we do not use positive tabindex values anywhere.
• Text and background colour combinations that pass WCAG AA contrast in automated checks on the pages listed above, in light and dark appearance.
• Status never carried by colour alone: guide level, verification and map states also carry a label, an icon or a texture.
• Every image either has a text alternative or is marked decorative, and diagrams ship with a text equivalent.
• Named labels on all form fields and search boxes, with placeholder text never used as the only label.
• Primary interactive controls sized to at least 44 by 44 pixels, checked against the WCAG 2.2 target-size rule.
• Pages reflow without sideways scrolling at 320 pixels wide, at mobile width and at 200% and 400% zoom.
• A screen-reader announcement when a new page loads, since the site navigates without a full page reload.
• An accessible alternative to the U.S. map: a state search, an A–Z state list, and keyboard-reachable map links that announce the state name, guide level and how many resources are listed.
• Read aloud that never starts by itself, can be stopped immediately, and is keyboard operable.
• Motion that stops when your device asks for reduced motion, plus a reduce-motion control of our own.
• One Experience control for text size, contrast, dark appearance, a dyslexia-friendly typeface, underlined links, a reading guide, calmer visuals and larger controls. Preferences are saved on your device and not sent to us.
• Printable manuals that keep headings, resource names, phone numbers, addresses, emails and written-out official web addresses, keep a resource's contact details from splitting across pages, and leave the on-screen navigation bar off the paper.

How we assess accessibility

We test in two ways, and we treat automated results as a floor rather than proof.

• Automated: axe-core rule sets for WCAG 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2 Level A and AA plus best practice, run against the representative pages listed above at desktop and phone widths. A passing scan is evidence, not proof of full accessibility.
• Manual: keyboard-only walkthroughs of navigation, search, filters, the state map and print controls; reflow checks at 320 pixels and 400% zoom; focus-visibility checks; reduced-motion checks; and review of landmarks, headings and accessible names.
• We also read the code for the patterns automated tools cannot see, such as whether a control is a real button or link and whether meaning depends on colour.

We have not yet completed structured testing with people who use screen readers, switch access or voice control day to day. That is the next step, and we will update this page when it happens.

Known limitations

• Many pages link to government forms, PDFs and third-party sites we do not control and cannot make accessible.
• No formal audit by an outside accessibility specialist, and no testing yet with assistive-technology users in their own setups.
• Automated checks cover representative pages, not every page. New pages can carry new problems.
• Some stored addresses are incomplete, so a printed guide may show a partial address for a small number of resources.
• The U.S. map is a visual aid. Everything it does is also available through search and the A–Z list, which we consider the primary route.
• Studio and staff-only pages are not part of the public accessibility scope above.

This site is under active development. We treat an accessibility bug as a bug, not a feature request.

Report an accessibility barrier

Email help@specialneeds.org and tell us what you were trying to do, the page you were on, and the technology you use. You can also use the contribute page to report a problem, or the contact page if you would rather call.

We answer accessibility reports as a priority, and we will tell you what we can fix and when.

Alternate formats

If a page or document on this site is unusable for you, contact us at help@specialneeds.org and we will provide the same information in another accessible format — for example plain text by email, large print, or read to you over the phone — while we fix the page itself.