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Hacks Vitae · the small print

Accessibility Statement

Accessibility Statement for Hacks Vitae

Last updated: 19 October 2026

We want everyone to be able to read this library, including people who use screen readers, keyboards, magnification or other assistive technology. This page says plainly where the site stands.

Conformance status

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) set out how to make web content accessible to people with disabilities, at three levels: A, AA and AAA. We aim for WCAG 2.2 level AA. Hacks Vitae is partially conformant with WCAG 2.2 level AA: some parts of the content do not yet fully meet the standard, or have not been tested against it.

What we have done

  • Every page has one main heading, and headings run in order, so the page structure can be navigated by heading.
  • Pages have been checked at phone widths down to 320 pixels so that text reflows without sideways scrolling.
  • Images that carry information have text alternatives; decorative images are marked so screen readers skip them.
  • Every link and button can be reached with the keyboard and shows a visible focus outline.
  • Text colours were measured against their backgrounds in both the light and the dark theme.
  • Motion. The home page and articles have a Pause motion button. It stops the hero video, the moving pictures, the pictures that respond to your pointer and the scroll effects at the top of the home page, and the site remembers your choice; on your next visit the 3D gallery is replaced by its plain list too. If your device is set to reduce motion, all of these stay still from the start.
  • The 3D gallery at the end of the home page is also a plain list of links to the eight sections, and touch screens and paused pages get that list instead of the 3D walk.
  • The pictures that respond to your pointer only do so with a mouse or trackpad; on touch screens they are ordinary pictures.
  • Articles have a text-size control (Small, Medium, Large), and pages work with your browser’s own zoom.
  • Collapsible lists use the browser’s standard controls, which work with a keyboard.
  • Saving (paused for now; these features are switched off at the moment). The Save button on articles and the small bookmark buttons beside key facts, verdicts and quotes are ordinary buttons: they work with the keyboard, have a text label for screen readers, report whether the item is saved (pressed or not), and are at least 44 pixels to tap. A short message confirms each save. My Library and My Feed use standard buttons, menus and text boxes, and nothing on them moves on its own.

What has not been tested yet

  • The site has not had a full WCAG audit by a specialist.
  • It has not been tested end to end with a screen reader.
  • The parts most likely to cause problems are the 3D gallery, the scroll-driven “case file” on the home page and the pictures that respond to your pointer. Everything they show is also available as ordinary text and links on the same page.
  • Some headings that build letter by letter carry their words in a label, which some page-translation tools skip.

Tell us about a problem

If something on the site is hard or impossible for you to use, please email [email protected]. It helps to tell us the page address, what you were trying to do, and the device, browser and any assistive technology you use. We read every message and will reply as soon as we can.