Accessibility Statement

Contents

1. Our Commitment

Sparked Connection Ltd is committed to making its website accessible to as many people as possible, regardless of ability, assistive technology, or how they choose to browse.

We believe that access to our service should not be a barrier, and we are actively working to improve the accessibility of sparkedconnection.com and all associated pages on an ongoing basis.

2. About This Website

This website is hand-coded in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and is hosted independently. It is not built on a third-party website builder such as Canva, Wix, or Squarespace. This means we have direct control over the code and can make targeted accessibility improvements as they are identified.

The site includes the following pages and features:

• Homepage — including hero, How It Works, events, and matchmaker sections
• Plans page — membership tiers and pricing
• About Matchmaking page
• The Science page
• Enquiry form
• Journal (hosted via a third-party blogging platform)
• Legal pages — Terms & Conditions, Refund & Cancellation Policy, Privacy Notice, and this Accessibility Statement

3. Compliance Status

We aim to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at Level AA, as referenced in the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018.

As a small, independently run business, we do not fall within the scope of the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations. However, we have chosen to follow WCAG 2.1 AA as our target standard because we believe it is the right thing to do.

4. What We Have Done

The following accessibility measures are already in place across our website:

• Language declared — the page language is set to lang="en-GB" on all pages, helping screen readers use the correct pronunciation rules
• Semantic HTML — headings, paragraphs, lists, and landmark elements (header, main, footer, nav) are used correctly throughout
• Keyboard navigation — the mobile menu toggle and interactive buttons include focus-visible styles so keyboard users can see where focus is
• ARIA labels on icons — social media icon links (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn) include descriptive aria-label attributes
• ARIA controls on mobile nav — the mobile menu toggle uses aria-expanded and aria-controls so assistive technologies can understand the toggle state
• Logo alt text — the site logo image includes descriptive alternative text
• Colour contrast — primary text on background colours has been chosen to meet or exceed a 4.5:1 contrast ratio for normal text
• Responsive design — all pages reflow correctly at 320px width and scale across screen sizes without requiring horizontal scrolling
• No flashing content — the site contains no animations that flash more than three times per second
• Links are distinguishable — inline links are visually distinct from surrounding text through colour and underline styling

5. Known Limitations

We are aware of the following areas where our website does not yet fully meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA:

• Skip navigation link — a “Skip to main content” link is not currently present, making keyboard-only navigation less efficient on pages with a fixed navigation bar. We intend to add this.
• Decorative SVG icons — some inline SVG icons used for decorative purposes do not yet carry aria-hidden="true", which may cause screen readers to announce them unnecessarily
• Email obfuscation — contact email addresses are rendered using Cloudflare’s email obfuscation script, which may not be accessible to all screen readers or users with JavaScript disabled. You can reach us directly via the address in Section 9.
• Third-party enquiry form — the enquiry form is hosted via Tally and its accessibility is subject to Tally’s own compliance. We cannot guarantee full WCAG conformance for this component.
• Hero section text contrast — some text in the homepage hero is displayed over a background image with a semi-transparent overlay. While we have applied a dark overlay to improve legibility, contrast may vary across devices and browser settings.
• Focus order on mobile — the visual order and focus order of some mobile menu elements may not always match, which can disorient keyboard and screen reader users.

6. Technical Specification

This website relies on the following technologies for conformance:

• HTML5
• CSS3 (including custom properties and responsive layout via CSS Grid and Flexbox)
• JavaScript (for mobile navigation and smooth scrolling behaviour)

The site does not rely on JavaScript for core content access. All primary information is available without JavaScript enabled, with the exception of the mobile navigation menu and email obfuscation functionality.

7. Browsers & Assistive Technology

We have designed this website to be compatible with the following browsers and assistive technology combinations:

• Chrome or Edge with NVDA on Windows
• Safari with VoiceOver on macOS and iOS
• Chrome on Android with TalkBack
• Firefox on Windows and macOS (latest versions)

The website is not designed to be compatible with browsers that do not support modern HTML5 or CSS standards, such as Internet Explorer 11 and below.

8. Third-Party Content

Parts of this website link to or embed content from third-party platforms. We do not control their accessibility and cannot guarantee conformance for these components:

• Tally — enquiry and referral forms
• Cloudflare — email protection script and CDN delivery
• Google Fonts — web fonts (Cormorant Garamond and Inter)
• Sparked Connection Journal — hosted at articles.sparkedconnection.com on a third-party blogging platform
• PayPal — payment links for Gold and Platinum memberships
• Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn — social media links that open in a new tab

Where possible, we have labelled external links that open in a new tab to provide advance notice to screen reader users.

9. How to Contact Us

If you experience any accessibility barriers on our website, or if you need information provided in a different format, please get in touch:

We aim to respond to all accessibility-related enquiries within 5 business days. Where we cannot resolve an issue immediately, we will acknowledge your message and provide an estimated timescale for resolution.

10. Enforcement

As noted in Section 3, Sparked Connection Ltd is a private business and does not fall within the scope of the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018. However, we recognise our responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010, which requires us to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that disabled people are not placed at a substantial disadvantage when accessing our services.

If you are not satisfied with our response to an accessibility concern, you may contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) for further guidance.

11. What We’re Working On

We are committed to improving accessibility on an ongoing basis. Our planned improvements include:

• Adding a visible “Skip to main content” link at the top of every page
• Auditing and adding aria-hidden="true" to all decorative SVG elements
• Reviewing and improving focus order on mobile navigation
• Improving hero section contrast across all screen types
• Reviewing email contact accessibility as an alternative to Cloudflare obfuscation

This statement was prepared in April 2026 and will be reviewed and updated as improvements are made.