ACCESSIBILITY

Accessibility

What we have done to make Stuama.ie easier to use, including with a keyboard, a screen reader or a small screen, and how to tell us if something does not work for you.

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Our approach

Our aim is for Stuama.ie to work for as many people as reasonably possible, including people who use a keyboard instead of a mouse, a screen reader or other assistive technology, a zoomed display or a small screen.

We use the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as our reference and aim to follow their principles in how the site is built. Stuama.ie has not had an independent accessibility audit, so we do not claim formal conformance with any WCAG level.

What we have done

  • Semantic HTML. Pages use landmarks (header, navigation, main content and footer), real headings, lists and tables, and native buttons and links rather than elements styled to look interactive.
  • Headings. Each page has a single main heading (H1), with the headings below it in a logical order, so the structure of a page is clear without relying on its visual styling.
  • Keyboard access. The main navigation, including the Business Services menu and the mobile menu, works with a keyboard, and open menus close with the Escape key. A “Skip to main content” link is the first item on every page.
  • Visible focus. Links, buttons and other interactive elements show a clear focus outline when you move to them with a keyboard.
  • Colour contrast. Text and background colours are chosen with contrast in mind and are checked with automated testing tools. Links in body text are underlined, so they are not identified by colour alone.
  • Responsive layouts. Pages adapt to phone, tablet and desktop screens. Text is sized in relative units, so it scales when you zoom or change your browser’s text size.
  • Tables. Comparison tables have captions and header cells. On small screens, wide tables are rearranged into labelled blocks, or scroll within their own frame, rather than making the whole page scroll sideways.
  • Images. Images that carry information have descriptive alternative text. Decorative images are hidden from assistive technology.
  • Descriptive links. Link text describes where the link goes. Where a short visible label such as “Read the guide” is used, it carries additional text for screen readers.
  • Reduced motion. The site keeps animation to a minimum and respects your device’s reduced-motion setting.
  • Plain English. We aim to write in plain English and to explain Irish-specific terms and abbreviations, such as the names of regulators, when they first appear on a page.

How we check

When pages are built or changed, they are checked with automated accessibility testing (axe) and HTML validation, and reviewed for heading structure and layout at a range of screen widths, from phones to large desktop screens. Automated tools cannot find every problem, which is why feedback from people who use the site matters.

Known limitations

We are not currently aware of any major accessibility barriers on Stuama.ie. However, accessibility can vary by device, browser and assistive technology, and we may not have found every problem. If you come across one, please tell us.

Third-party websites and services

Stuama.ie links to websites run by other organisations, including providers, regulators and CompareInsuranceIreland.ie. We do not control how accessible those websites are. If you have difficulty with one of them, please contact that organisation directly; you are also welcome to let us know.

Reporting a problem

If something on Stuama.ie is hard to use, please tell us which page you were on, what you were trying to do, and the device, browser and any assistive technology you were using. We will look at the problem and, where we can, fix it or provide the information in another way.

Keeping this page up to date

Accessibility is ongoing work rather than a one-off task. We apply the approach above as we add and update pages, and we will update this page when our approach, our testing or what we know about the site changes.