Accessibility Statement for StellarEd

StellarEd is committed to ensuring digital accessibility for all users, including people with disabilities. We are continuously working to improve the accessibility of our website and online learning platform to provide an inclusive experience for everyone. Our commitment is rooted in the belief that everyone should have equal access to educational resources and opportunities.

Our Accessibility Goals

We aim to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA, the internationally recognized standard for web accessibility. These guidelines outline how to make web content more accessible to people with a wide range of disabilities. Specifically, we focus on addressing the four principles of accessibility:

1. Perceivable: Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive. This includes providing text alternatives for non-text content, offering captions and transcripts for audio and video content, and ensuring sufficient color contrast.
2. Operable: User interface components and navigation must be operable. This includes making all functionality available from a keyboard, providing enough time for users to read and use the content, and designing content that does not cause seizures.
3. Understandable: Information and the operation of the user interface must be understandable. This includes making text readable and understandable, operating the page in predictable ways, and helping users avoid and correct mistakes.
4. Robust: Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. This includes ensuring that our code is valid and that our platform is compatible with screen readers and other assistive devices.

Accessibility Features Implemented

To achieve our accessibility goals, we have implemented several features throughout the StellarEd website and learning platform:

• Semantic HTML: We use semantic HTML elements to structure our content, making it easier for screen readers and other assistive technologies to interpret the meaning and relationships between different parts of the page. For example, we use headings (
  through
  ) to organize content, lists (
  and
  ) to present related items, and landmarks ( ,
  , ) to define different sections of the page.
• Alternative Text for Images: All images on our website include descriptive alternative text ( alt attribute) that provides context and meaning for users who cannot see the images. Our alt text is concise, accurate, and relevant to the surrounding content.
• Keyboard Navigation: Our website is fully navigable using a keyboard alone. Users can access all interactive elements, such as links, buttons, and form fields, using the Tab key to move forward and Shift+Tab to move backward. We also provide visual focus indicators to show which element is currently selected.
• Color Contrast: We ensure that there is sufficient color contrast between text and background colors to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA requirements. We use color contrast analyzers to verify that our color combinations provide adequate readability for users with low vision or color blindness.
• Resizable Text: Users can easily resize the text on our website without losing content or functionality. Our responsive design ensures that the layout adapts appropriately to different text sizes.
• Captions and Transcripts: All video and audio content on our platform includes captions and transcripts, making it accessible to users who are deaf or hard of hearing. Our captions are synchronized with the audio and provide accurate and complete representations of the spoken content.
• ARIA Attributes: We use ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) attributes to enhance the accessibility of interactive elements and dynamic content. ARIA attributes provide additional information to assistive technologies, such as the role, state, and properties of elements that are not natively accessible.
• Form Accessibility: All form fields on our website are properly labeled and include clear instructions. We use semantic HTML elements and ARIA attributes to ensure that forms are accessible to users with disabilities.
• Consistent Navigation: We maintain a consistent navigation structure throughout our website to help users find what they are looking for quickly and easily. Our navigation menus are organized logically and include clear and descriptive labels.
• Dark Mode: We offer a dark mode option that allows users to switch to a high-contrast color scheme, which can improve readability for some users. The dark mode toggle is easily accessible and provides a persistent setting that is remembered across sessions.

Conformance Status

The StellarEd website and online learning platform partially conform to WCAG 2.1 Level AA. This means that some parts of our content do not fully meet the accessibility standards. We are actively working to address these issues and improve the overall accessibility of our platform. We conduct regular accessibility audits and testing to identify and fix accessibility barriers.

Specifically, we are aware of the following accessibility limitations:

• Some complex diagrams and illustrations may lack detailed text descriptions. We are working to provide more comprehensive descriptions for these elements.
• Some older video content may not have accurate or complete captions. We are in the process of reviewing and updating the captions for all of our video content.
• Some interactive elements may not be fully accessible to users who rely on screen readers. We are working to improve the ARIA attributes and semantic HTML of these elements.

Feedback and Contact Information

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of the StellarEd website and online learning platform. If you encounter any accessibility barriers or have suggestions for improvement, please contact us at:

StellarEd Accessibility Team
1200 Discovery Drive
Boulder, CO 80305
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +1 555-321-4567

We are committed to responding to accessibility inquiries within two business days and will make every effort to address your concerns promptly and effectively.

Technical Specifications

Accessibility of StellarEd relies on the following technologies to work with the particular combination of web browser and any assistive technologies or plugins installed on your computer:

• HTML
• CSS
• JavaScript
• ARIA

These technologies are relied upon for conformance to the accessibility standards used.

Compatibility with Browsers and Assistive Technology

StellarEd is designed to be compatible with the following assistive technologies:

• Latest versions of screen readers, such as NVDA, JAWS, and VoiceOver
• Operating system provided speech recognition software
• Keyboard-only navigation
• Magnification software

StellarEd is not compatible with:

• Older versions of assistive technologies that do not support modern web standards.

Assessment Approach

StellarEd assessed the accessibility of this website by the following approaches:

• Self-evaluation: The website was evaluated internally by StellarEd's accessibility team using a combination of manual testing and automated tools.
• External evaluation: The website will be evaluated by a third-party accessibility consultant to ensure compliance with WCAG 2.1 Level AA.

Formal Complaints

We aim to resolve all accessibility issues promptly and fairly. If you are not satisfied with our response to your accessibility concerns, you may file a formal complaint with our customer support team at [email protected] .

Ongoing Efforts

StellarEd is committed to continuously improving the accessibility of our website and online learning platform. We will continue to monitor and test our platform for accessibility issues and implement improvements as needed. Our ongoing efforts include:

• Providing regular accessibility training for our development and content creation teams.
• Conducting regular accessibility audits and testing.
• Incorporating accessibility considerations into our design and development processes.
• Staying up-to-date with the latest accessibility standards and best practices.

We believe that accessibility is an ongoing journey, and we are dedicated to creating an inclusive online learning environment for all students. Thank you for your support in helping us achieve our accessibility goals.