Accessibility

Lab 47 aims to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA on this site. That is the standard referenced by Ontario’s Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and by most public-sector procurement in Canada.

The same target applies to the sites we build for clients. Accessibility is part of the build, not an add-on, because it overlaps almost entirely with the things that make a site rank and convert: clear structure, fast loading, readable text and working keyboard navigation.

• Semantic HTML with a single H1 per page and a logical heading order, so screen readers can navigate by structure.
• Every interactive element - links, buttons, form fields, FAQ toggles - reachable and operable by keyboard, with a visible focus state.
• Text and background colours chosen to meet AA contrast ratios, on both the dark and light sections.
• Text that scales: nothing breaks at 200% browser zoom, and layouts reflow on narrow screens rather than requiring horizontal scrolling.
• Form fields with real labels, required fields marked, and errors described in text rather than by colour alone.
• Meaningful images carry alt text; decorative images are hidden from assistive technology.
• Motion respects your system setting: with “reduce motion” enabled, background drifts and entrance animations are switched off.
• No content flashes, autoplays with sound, or moves in a way that cannot be paused.

We are honest about where the site is still short of the target:

• The site uses large animated headings and scroll-driven effects in places. They are decorative and are disabled under “reduce motion”, but with motion enabled some users may find them distracting.
• Case-study pages include screenshots of client websites. The alt text describes the page shown; it does not reproduce the text inside the screenshot.
• Third-party services embedded now or in future (analytics, maps, video players) are outside our direct control.

This list is reviewed when the site is updated.

Each page is checked with automated tools (Lighthouse and axe) and by hand: keyboard-only navigation, browser zoom to 200%, and a screen reader pass with VoiceOver on macOS and iOS. Testing is repeated whenever a page changes substantially.

If anything on this site is hard or impossible for you to use, please tell us. Email hello@lab47.ca with the page and what went wrong, and what assistive technology you were using if any. We will respond within five business days and aim to fix genuine barriers promptly.

If you need any content from this site in an alternative format, ask and we will provide it.