Accessibility Statement

CSAT Website Accessibility

Accessibility Statement 

Consulting Services for Accessible Transportation Inc. (CSAT) is fully committed to providing an inclusive universal standard online environment for all our corporate and client communities.

We ensure all our disability transportation consultants are paid equally for the work they provide to make transportation safe and accessible for all people. We are NOT an organization who use third party companies who execute accessible plans for their own personal monetization, and only pay their consultants in gift cards or credit. We are of the community for the community in conjunction with The Canada Accessible Act – “Nothing About Us Without Us.”

Accessibility Standards for CSAT’s website

Our Social Enterprise consists of consultants from the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD) and transportation industry experts, to ensure we are meeting and exceeding Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) AA standards whenever possible. Our themes, fonts, colours are compatible for screen readers, and easy to navigate with additional options should it still be accessible.

We conducted an audit of our website in October 2023 by Mr. Lui Greco and the findings indicated several elements that could be made more accessible.

As a result, we are investing in upgrading the website from Wix to WordPress and we aim to have these elements addressed before the end of May 2024.

We aim to meet or exceed the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0. (WCAG AA) as the technical standard for our website.

We appreciate your patience as we continue to work updating the website.

Compliance with accessibility standards

Here are some of the principles we are using to make our website easier to use:

  • To provide website visitors with an optimal user experience, websites should use as few fonts as possible and optimize the readability of those you do choose.
  • Where possible, testing font choices on real customers or website visitors can be of great help, as they can give you feedback regarding their personal preferences. For example, if there are many people with dyslexia in the audience, research dyslexia-friendly fonts that are designed to make reading easier for them. It is important to note that an estimated 20% of the world’s population has dyslexia, the most common of all neuro-cognitive disorders. People with dyslexia heavily-depend on legible, highly distinguishable fonts to access web-based content.
  • Dyslexie and Open-Dyslexic are two fonts designed specifically to make reading more enjoyable for those who have dyslexia. Here are links to their websites, where you can download these fonts and incorporate them in your website:

Dyslexiefont.com

Opendyslexic.org

Additionally, providing website visitors with the ability to configure text size, color, line spacing, text style, and font family is a great way to serve their specific needs and preferences.

A web accessibility tool allows individual website visitors to modify design elements within the website to fit their abilities. These include adjusting font sizes, adjusting color contrasts so that fonts become more visible, and even replacing fonts with more readable ones.

Examples of accessible fonts

Many companies and designers want to choose a unique font for their website and other digital assets. That said, the most familiar fonts are usually popular for a reason. They tend to be the most readable, legible, and recognizable for readers. Some of the most popular accessible fonts are:

Arial

Calibri

Century Gothic

Helvetica

As we mentioned before, there’s no right answer as to the most accessible font. Where possible, think about the unique priorities of the audience. For instance, website visitors might value a larger font size or slightly more line spacing. For the best results, conduct testing and gather feedback to find the best fonts for the audience.

Fonts to avoid

Generally, avoid these fonts when designing for accessibility:

Script fonts: Because script fonts emulate cursive handwriting, their letters are often not distinct from each other. This can cause difficulties for people with dyslexia, low vision, and some other disabilities.

Decorative fonts: Avoid fonts that prioritize decorative aesthetics over readability.

Thin or lightweight fonts: If a font is too thin or lightweight, it can be very difficult to read.[1]

Accessibility testing

As part of our development process and ongoing website maintenance, CSAT tests csat1.com using several different assistive technologies, including screen readers and total site accessibility validators.

Our ongoing test regime will test and upgrade the site as new enhancements are introduced, and we will constantly strive to adopt innovative technology and ideas as they become available. Our testers are consultants who are on the Transportation panel advisory committee for CCD, CSAT and the Canadian Federal Government.

Please see findings from the October 2023 audit below:

Thank you for the opportunity to review your website for accessibility issues.

This review is not a compliance audit but rather represents usability with a screen reader only. The nature of the website under review requires only that content is perceivable and that the page can be navigated using a screen reader.

The approach:

The following automated accessibility checkers were used:

Colour contrast accessibility validator.

This automated checker did not return any errors.  In fact, the welcome page scored 100%.  More on automated tools later.

Total Validator

After navigating the sites’ pages the above tool did a more in-depth assessment and the findings can be made available upon request.

Caution:

Any automated tool findings should never be relied upon solely regardless of the outcome.

However, the various tools can provide a jumping off point to examine a website for compliance issues.  Because the website under review was generated itself with an automated website builder, the underlying code could not be achieved.

Compliance against HTML 5.0 Standards

Again, an automated tool was used to test for compliance issues. For the Total Validator, a simple automated tool was selected.

Errors:

Twenty HTML errors were returned.  These errors can be made available on request.

Each of the 3 pages reviewed returned similar errors and warnings further substantiating the above commentary.

While the site scored high with regards to colour contrast compliance, the underlying auto generated test used by Wix is problematic. For example, the headings used on the welcome page were not properly nested.

Suggest that this be re-examined and that properly nested headings be adopted, for example locally structured. This should be done for all pages to ensure that they are compliant and effectively navigable by anyone relying on assistive technology.

Conclusion

Despite the errors and warnings generated by the total validator tool, the site is easy to use with a screen reader. Content is navigable and all internal links worked as expected.

Recommendations

Reconsider the use of Wix as a content management system. There is considerable underlying code which while not tested at all, likely provides a possible security issue.

Content management systems are extremely attractive however should the website development require additional functionality, then it is strongly suggested that a more robust professional content management system be adopted.

Wix, as with any almost free website authoring packages rely on visitor metrics to supplement their revenue models.

Accessible Formats

How to share your feedback

We continue to invest in making our website as accessible as possible and will continue to seek user feedback to enhance the www.csat1.com, until www.csat1.org  our new website which is scheduled to be completed before May 31, 2024.

We will endeavour to respond immediately but please recognize more complex enquiries may take a little longer to respond to, however we will respond no later than 10 calendar days from receipt of the feedback / complaint.

If you require a phone call, printed version, or alternate forms of electronic copies, we will be happy to provide upon request at no additional cost. 

 Other options – please allow for up to 2-7 days (up to two weeks for international) mail service requests. 

Other formats include, but not limited to:

  • Memory sticks with downloaded files and information.
  • Larger print versions using the font and size of your choice.
  • Braille version of our accessible services and product offerings.
  • Meeting requests through teams (1-2 days’ notice required).
  • Videos can be made with advance notice – and once requested will also be shared online as part of a catalogue of support.

We will ensure the response provided is in a format that is accessible to the complainant.

If you prefer to speak to us in person, you can contact us through the channels below:

Toll free:1-855-831-2041

Voice Relay Service: TTY – dial 711

Mailing Address: 20, 1915- 32nd Avenue N.E.,

Calgary, Alberta T2E 7C8