At Waterford, we are committed to accessibility, diversity, and inclusion. As part of that commitment, we are making efforts to ensure that Waterford’s digital properties are accessible to all individuals, regardless of ability. In doing so, Waterford has a goal to comply with applicable accessibility standards included in the W3C’s WCAG 2.2 AA guidelines.
We are working to ensure our websites and online services are accessible for all and are committed to following the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and other applicable web accessibility laws.
To accomplish this, we have partnered with Level Access to leverage their digital accessibility platform and 25 years of experience to achieve and sustain conformance to accessibility standards. Their digital accessibility platform is used to evaluate our digital properties in accordance with best practices and is supported by a diverse team of accessibility professionals, including users with disabilities.
Through this partnership, Waterford continues to develop our digital accessibility program and capabilities so that we are designing, developing, and testing our websites and online services for conformance to accessibility standards.
Level Access has completed two VPATs on behalf of Waterford.org—one for the web application and one for the tablet application—covering Waterford activities used in Waterford Early Learning and Waterford Upstart.
A VPAT is a document that explains how accessible a digital product is for people with disabilities. It describes how well a website or software works for individuals who may use screen readers, rely on keyboard navigation instead of a mouse, or have visual, hearing, motor, or cognitive disabilities.
A VPAT rates accessibility across specific standards and indicates whether a product:
Across all evaluated criteria, Waterford is rated as either Fully Supports or Partially Supports.
Waterford’s rating of “Partially Supports” relates to standard accessibility criteria such as video captions. For early learners who are not yet reading, traditional captions are not developmentally appropriate. In these cases, audio supports and other age-appropriate design features are used to ensure accessibility for young children.
We want to hear from you. If you would like further information about Waterford accessibility efforts, have other accessibility questions or feedback, or encounter accessibility barriers on our digital properties, please contact accessibility@waterford.org
