Accessibility Policy

Empathy First Media is committed to ensuring our website is accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. We believe in digital inclusion and strive to provide a user experience that is accessible and user-friendly for all visitors, regardless of ability or assistive technology. This Accessibility Statement outlines our approach and the measures we have taken (and continue to take) to achieve web accessibility.

Our Accessibility Goal: We aim to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at the AA level of conformance for our website​. Reference: w3.org. These guidelines, published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), are internationally recognized standards for web accessibility. Conformance with WCAG 2.1 Level AA means that our site should be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust for most users, including those using assistive technologies. We also endeavor to meet requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for public-facing web content, and relevant accessibility laws in other jurisdictions (such as the UK’s Equality Act and Canada’s AODA, as applicable).

Measures to Support Accessibility:

• We have integrated accessibility as a key aspect of our web development process. Accessibility features and considerations are built into our site design from the ground up.

• Our developers and content creators receive guidance on best practices for accessible design, such as using proper heading structures, alt text for images, sufficient color contrast, and keyboard navigability.

• We perform periodic audits of our site using a combination of manual testing and automated accessibility evaluation tools. For example, we use tools like WAVE, Axe, or Lighthouse to detect potential issues and then manually verify and fix them.

• We test our website on various assistive technologies. This includes screen readers (such as NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver) to ensure that users who are blind or have low vision can navigate and consume our content. We also consider screen magnifiers, keyboard-only navigation (for users who cannot use a mouse), and voice recognition software.

• We strive to write content in clear language and provide instructions or labels that are easily understandable. Where appropriate, we supplement text with icons or other cues, but never rely solely on color or visual cues to convey information (to assist those with visual or cognitive disabilities).

• For multimedia content (videos, audio), we provide text alternatives. Videos embedded on our site will have closed captions or transcripts available. Audio content (like podcasts) will have transcripts. Any important image has descriptive alt text, and decorative images are either given empty alt attributes or handled via CSS, so they do not clutter screen reader output.

• We have implemented ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles and landmarks where needed to help assistive tech users understand page structure or dynamic content. However, we try to rely on native HTML elements first, as they have built-in accessibility.

• Our site is responsive and works on a variety of devices and screen sizes. This benefits all users, including those who may zoom in or use small displays (people with low vision often enlarge content).

Ongoing Efforts: Accessibility is not a one-time project. We view it as an ongoing effort. We regularly scan new content or features for accessibility. When we post blogs or new pages, we follow an accessibility checklist (e.g., confirm headings are nested properly, images have alt tags, link text is descriptive, etc.). When introducing new functionality, we consider the impact of accessibility and test accordingly.

We recognize that standards and technology evolve. For example, as WCAG updates to 2.2 or 3.0 in the future, we will adapt our site to meet updated guidelines. We also pay attention to user feedback, which can highlight issues we might not have caught.

Compatibility: Our goal is for Empathy First Media’s website to be compatible with commonly used browsers and assistive technologies. The site is designed to work well with:

• Recent versions of major browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, etc. (We recommend using the latest version for the best experience, but we aim to support at least the last few versions of each).

• Browser zoom up to 200% without loss of functionality or clarity.

• Screen reader/browser combinations like JAWS with Chrome/IE, NVDA with Firefox, VoiceOver with Safari on Mac and iOS, and TalkBack on Android.

• Keyboard-only navigation (you should be able to use Tab, Enter, Space, arrow keys, etc., to navigate all interactive parts of the site, such as menus, forms, and links).

• We try to avoid any known issues with specific assistive tech. If we become aware of an incompatibility (for example, a certain form component not announcing properly on an older screen reader), we will work on a fix or provide an alternative.

Third-Party Content: While we have control over our own content and code, our site may also include third-party content or features (like an embedded YouTube video, a social media feed, or third-party widgets). We cannot guarantee the accessibility of content we do not produce (for instance, a third-party video without captions or an external widget that is not accessible). However, we choose third-party integrations carefully and favor those committed to accessibility. We will provide an accessible alternative whenever possible. For example, if a third-party video player is not accessible, we might offer a direct link to view on YouTube (which has captioning support and other accessibility features). If a third-party infographic is not accessible, we will include the key information in text form alongside it.

Feedback Welcomed: We recognize that despite our best efforts, some users may encounter accessibility barriers. We welcome feedback on the accessibility of our website. If you have any difficulty using any part of our site or have suggestions on how we can improve accessibility, please let us know. We will respond and take action as needed.

Contact Us for Accessibility Issues:

• Email: [email protected] (or you can use [email protected] with “Accessibility” in the subject line).

• Phone: (866) 348-5419 (our Support line). During business hours, our team will assist or record your feedback. If you prefer to send a text, you can SMS (727) 594-0676 (Internal SMS alerts line) and it will reach our team.

• Postal Mail: Attn: Accessibility Coordinator, Empathy First Media, 260 1st Ave S, Suite 200 #166, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA.

When you contact us, please describe the specific page or element that is causing an issue and the nature of the problem. This will help us diagnose and fix it faster. For example, “On the Services page, the ‘Get a Quote’ button is not focusable via keyboard,” or “The contrast between the background and text in the header seems low for me as a low-vision user,” etc. Any info about your device, browser, or assistive tech is helpful but not required.

Response Time: We aim to respond to accessibility feedback within five business days. In many cases, we will be able to address issues promptly (some fixes might even be immediate, such as adding missing alt text). For more complex issues, we may need more time to investigate or implement a fix, but we will keep you informed of progress.

Accessibility Features on Our Site:

• Skip Navigation Link: We have a “Skip to main content” link as one of the first elements on each page for those using screen readers or keyboard navigation, so you can bypass repetitive menu links.

• Adjustable Text Size: You can use browser zoom or text-only zoom; our site is designed in relative font sizes that scale properly. We also ensure that text doesn’t overflow or become unreadable at high zoom levels.

• High Contrast and Legible Fonts: We use text and background color combinations that meet WCAG contrast guidelines (generally a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text, and 3:1 for large text). We avoid tiny font sizes and overly decorative fonts for body text to ensure legibility.

• ARIA Landmarks/Headings: We structure pages with semantic headings (H1, H2, etc.) and landmark roles (like <nav>, <main>, <footer>) so that users of assistive tech can navigate sections of a page easily. For example, screen reader users can jump from one heading to another to skim content.

• Form Labels and Instructions: Any form field on our site has a corresponding label that is programmatically associated (either via <label> or aria-label). We provide clear instructions and error messages if a form input is invalid. Where possible, we also validate forms in real-time to help users correct entries.

• Responsive Modal/Pop-ups: If we use modal dialogs (pop-ups), we ensure they are keyboard accessible (focus moves into the modal, and it’s trapped until closed, and pressing Esc can close it) and that they announce appropriately to screen readers (using aria-modal and focus management.

• No Time-Based Media Without Controls: We avoid any auto-playing audio or video. If any media were to play automatically (e.g., a background video), it will be muted by default and/or provide controls to pause/stop, in line with accessibility best practices.

Third-Party Platforms: Empathy First Media also interacts with users on external platforms (like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). We can’t control the platform’s accessibility, but we are mindful in how we post (e.g., adding alt text to images on Twitter or captions on videos we upload to YouTube).

Accessibility Achievements and Ongoing Work: We are proud of certain areas of our site that we’ve made especially accessible, such as our blog content (each post is checked for header structure and alt tags). We also recognize areas for improvement. For example, we are currently working on adding audio descriptions to some of our marketing videos for blind users, and exploring options for an accessibility widget that would allow easier toggling of contrast or text size for users who need it (without relying on browser settings). We also plan to engage an external accessibility expert at least annually to audit our site and provide an objective assessment.

Statement of Partial Conformance (if applicable): Our goal is full WCAG 2.1 AA conformance. As of the last update, we believe we substantially meet those criteria. There may be some instances of partial conformance:

• For example, some legacy content (older blog articles) might have not-perfect alt text or might contain an embedded chart without a full text alternative. We are working through those legacy issues.

• A small portion of our video library is awaiting captions or transcripts, which we plan to complete by [a target date]. Other than such exceptions, new content is created to conform.

Feedback Example: A user with low vision recently contacted us to point out that our link text color was a bit too light against the white background. As a result, we darkened the link color to increase contrast. We appreciate this kind of feedback as it directly helps us improve.

Empathy First Media is dedicated to continual improvement in accessibility. This isn’t just about compliance, but about empathy – true to our name, we want to empathize with all user experiences and ensure our digital presence is welcoming to everyone.

If you find any aspect of our site that is not accessible to you, please reach out. We value all our site visitors and customers and will do our best to accommodate your needs.