Accessibility

What we measure against

The benchmark is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1, level AA. Testing is not a matter of feel: one script runs over the pages automatically, a second measures colour contrast at the rendered pixel instead of at the colour value in the code. Both run on every change. On top of that, the site is operated by keyboard by hand.

What is in place

• Skip link: the first key press on any page goes straight to the main content, past the header and the navigation.
• Keyboard: every control is reachable and shows a visible focus, including the thirteen choice fields in the waitlist form. The menu on a phone keeps focus inside itself, Escape closes it and returns focus to where it came from.
• Colour contrast: every text colour reaches at least 4.5:1 on both page grounds. It is measured at the rendered pixel, including against the painted sky at the top of the home page.
• Forms: errors are announced, not only coloured, every field points at its message, and after submitting, focus moves to the confirmation.
• Motion: if your system is set to less motion, you get the site without animations and without smooth scrolling.
• Images: every image that carries content has alternative text. Purely decorative images stay silent for screen readers.
• Structure: semantic HTML, one main heading per page, named regions, and the language sits on the block of text wherever it differs from the language of the page.
• Touch targets: at least 44 by 44 pixels, so nothing misses on a phone.

State of testing

Last tested on 7 September 2026 with axe-core against the WCAG 2.0 A and AA and the WCAG 2.1 A and AA rule sets. Home page, about page, contact, this page and one legal document were checked: no violation. Lighthouse arrives at 96 out of 100 and counts the wordmark in the footer, which we deliberately treat as a surface - more on that below.

What is still missing

Known and unsolved:

• The two language links in the header are 36 by 44 pixels instead of 44 by 44. Two full targets would overlap at the slash, and overlapping targets are worse than slightly small ones.
• While the menu on a phone is open, the rest of the page stays technically reachable. Focus cycles inside the menu, but the background is not additionally shut down.
• The photo strip on the about page is swiped or driven with the arrow keys. There is no button to page through it.
• The large wordmark in the footer has little contrast against its background. It only repeats the wordmark from the header, carries no information and is hidden from screen readers. The guideline exempts surfaces like this, testing tools count them anyway. We keep it a hint rather than turning it into a second headline for a better number.

Legal classification

The German Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz has applied since 28 June 2025. Dare Together is run as a sole proprietorship and falls under the microenterprise exemption for services. This page is therefore voluntary: it describes what is in place and what is open, and it is not a formal accessibility statement.