Accessibility

Last reviewed: 16 May 2026

The short version

Connect & Support UK is built to be usable by as many people as possible, including with assistive technology. We aim to conform to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 Level AA. As of the date above, we believe the app partially conformsto WCAG 2.2 AA — a few known gaps are listed below. We're actively closing them.

If something here doesn't work for you, please email us at hello@playnorthwestcic.com — we want to know.

What we've built in

Screen reader support.All interactive controls have meaningful labels. The crisis helplines on the home page and the "Quick Exit" safety button announce themselves on focus.
Keyboard navigation. Every button, link, slider and toggle is reachable by keyboard. Focus rings are visible (3 px outline) on every interactive element.
Reduced motion.The breathing circle, the pendulum activity, and other animations respect the OS "Reduce Motion" setting. With it on, the visuals stay static while the timer + voice prompts continue.
High-contrast text. Body text meets WCAG AA contrast (4.5:1 minimum) against its background. The crisis-time copy on the home page is full-opacity white on navy (passes AA + AAA).
Tap targets ≥ 44 × 44 px on every primary action — phone numbers, breathing controls, journal save, picker tiles. Designed for hands shaking in distress.
No flashing content. Nothing in the app flashes more than 3 times per second; the breathing circle cycles at human-breath pace (~6–10 BPM).
Dark-mode support. Following your OS preference automatically.
Large-text resilience.The layout reflows cleanly at 200% browser zoom on a 320 px-wide phone, and iOS Dynamic Type up to the "XXL" setting.
In-app text-size control. A Text size toggle on the Me tab lets you scale every piece of text in the app — Normal, Larger (+15%), or Largest (+30%). Combines with your OS-level text-size setting. Your choice is remembered on this device.
High-contrast mode.If you switch on "Increase Contrast" in iOS Settings → Accessibility → Display & Text Size, or "High contrast text" in Android Settings → Accessibility, the app automatically darkens body text to near-black, strengthens borders, and bumps the focus-ring contrast. No in-app toggle needed.
Screen-reader summary at the top of every page. Pages with long welcome copy include a hidden one-line summary that VoiceOver and TalkBack read first, so you hear the page's purpose and the route to a helpline before the longer explanation.
“Listen” button on long-content pages. A built-in read-aloud feature on the home page, this accessibility page, and the ACEs & resilience intro. Tap once to hear the page read in a calm UK voice; tap again to stop. Useful for users who can see the screen but prefer audio for longer passages, and for users with dyslexia. Distinct from your phone's VoiceOver / TalkBack — this is a per-page, opt-in audio that you control. Hidden on browsers without speech-synthesis support (rare).
Voice control.All buttons can be triggered by name via iOS Voice Control or Android Voice Access (e.g. "Tap Call Samaritans").
No autoplaying audio. Calming sounds and sound healing journeys only start on a tap.
Trauma-informed defaults. No streaks, no shame copy, no nudge tactics, no autoplay video. Daily affirmations + journal nudges are off by default and opt-in only.

Known gaps

Honesty matters more than a clean badge. As of the date above, the following don't yet meet our target:

Map view of services. The Mapbox GL map on /services is hard to navigate by keyboard alone; pin selection requires a pointer. Workaround: use the list view, which has the same data + better keyboard support. We're replacing pin-selection with a keyboard-friendly alternative.
Sand Tray + Mandala Maker.These two premium creative activities use canvas drawing that doesn't work with screen readers or keyboard alone. They're not on the critical path — every other skill in the app has a non-canvas equivalent.
Some emoji-only icons.Tile icons in the calming-sounds picker (❤️ 🔥 ⛈ 🌊 etc.) rely on the OS emoji rendering. They have text labels alongside, so the icon is decorative and doesn't need an alt-text — but on devices without an emoji font, the visual is missing.
BSL (British Sign Language) video.We don't yet have BSL-interpreted versions of any content. This is a known accessibility gap for d/Deaf users; on the roadmap.

What we're measuring against

Our target is WCAG 2.2 Level AA. We test with:

VoiceOver on iOS (Safari) and macOS, NVDA on Windows, and TalkBack on Android.
Keyboard-only navigation (no pointer / no touch).
Reduced-motion + high-contrast OS settings on iOS and Android.
Browser zoom at 200% on a 320 px-wide viewport.
Automated checks via axe-core during development.

We do not currently hold a formal third-party audit certificate. A WCAG 2.2 audit by a qualified accessibility consultant is on our 2026 roadmap.

How to report a problem

If you find something that doesn't work for you — an unreadable contrast, a button you can't reach by keyboard, a label your screen reader skips, anything — please email hello@playnorthwestcic.com with as much detail as you can share (device, browser, assistive tech, screenshot if possible). We aim to respond within five working days and fix where we can.

If you're not happy with our response, you can also contact the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), who enforce the Equality Act 2010 in the UK.

Legal basis

Connect & Support UK is operated by Play North West CIC, a Community Interest Company registered in England and Wales. We're obliged under the Equality Act 2010 (UK) and the European Accessibility Act 2025 (where reachable from the EU) to make reasonable adjustments to ensure our digital services are accessible.