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Accessibility Statement for Allergy & Asthma Network

This is an accessibility statement from Allergy & Asthma Network.

Measures to support accessibility

Allergy & Asthma Network takes the following measures to ensure accessibility of Allergy & Asthma Network:

  • Include accessibility as one of our corporate values.
  • Include accessibility throughout our internal policies.
  • Integrate accessibility into our procurement practices.
  • Appoint an accessibility officer and/or ombudsperson.
  • Provide continual accessibility training for our staff.

Conformance status

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) defines requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. It defines three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA. Allergy & Asthma Network is partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 level AA. Partially conformant means that some parts of the content do not fully conform to the accessibility standard.

Additional accessibility considerations

Although our goal is WCAG 2.1 Level AA conformance, we have also applied some Level AAA Success; for example the live webinars now have instant transcription by a live person.

Feedback

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of Allergy & Asthma Network. Please let us know if you encounter accessibility barriers on Allergy & Asthma Network:

  • Phone: Call +1 800-878-4403
  • E-mail: admin@allergyasthmanetwork.org
  • Postal Address: 10304 Eaton Place, Suite 100 Fairfax, VA 22030

We try to respond to feedback within 3 business days.

Compatibility with browsers and assistive technology

Allergy & Asthma Network is designed to be compatible with the following assistive technologies:

  • Despite best efforts, accessibility may not work well in every combination of operating system, web browser, and assistive technology. We have not had an outside audit as of yet due to resources constraints at the moment.

Allergy & Asthma Network is not compatible with:

  • Web browsers older than 2 major versions may not be compatible.
  • Assistive technologies that are not current and updated may not be compatible.
  • Older mobile phones and their operating systems may not be compatible.

Technical specifications

Accessibility of Allergy & Asthma Network relies on the following technologies to work with the particular combination of web browser and any assistive technologies or plugins installed on your computer:

  • HTML
  • WAI-ARIA
  • CSS
  • JavaScript

These technologies are relied upon for conformance with the accessibility standards used.

Videos are now limited to YouTube Embeds, as opposed to using Able Player

We followed documentation from the Able Player’s implementation procedures to use the tool on our website. To initiate the application only when called, our developer created an integration that allowed for dynamic video player initialization by calling multiple elements of any video hosted on YouTube or served from the website, including the poster, description, transcript, captions, language variations, and more.

Once we implemented the application, we discovered its code conflicted with the existing website framework. The two code libraries conflicted and created additional unnecessary code that could not be removed. We removed support for the application’s core functions, “site transcript” and “captions,” and relied instead on YouTube’s content as a workaround.

The Able Player application was active on the site from June 2022 – July 2023. During that period, we realized the tool was not developed considering search engine optimization. The application uses a header hierarchy that overrides the website header hierarchy, confusing both search engines and screen readers. To revoke the application header hierarchy, our developers would be required to hack the application with complex scripts that impact site performance and negate the accessibility of the video player.

Limitations and alternatives

Despite our best efforts to ensure accessibility of Allergy & Asthma Network , there may be some limitations. Below is a description of known limitations, and potential solutions. Please contact us if you observe an issue not listed below.

Known limitations for Allergy & Asthma Network:

  1. Video embedded from YouTube: Not all videos from YouTube have instant captions and transcripts. because The site is over 10 years old and we are working on making as much new content accessible as possible with our small staff. We are continually going back to old content to add accessibility via subtitles and/or transcripts.. Please contact admin@allergyasthmanetwork if you need something fixed. We will respond within 3 business days and will endeavor to fix the problem within 10 business days. All videos have the option to be watched on our YouTube channel with subtitles.
  2. Infographics: Many infographics are steeped in text that is too long for alt text. because Infographics have been on the site for over a decade. We are working on converting many of them to tables for ease of accessibility. Many have attached transcripts or alt text to describe the infographic as best as possible.  Please contact admin@allergyasthmanetwork if you need something fixed. We will respond within 3 business days and will endeavor to fix the problem within 10 business days.
  3. WordPress theme issues with Divi: Divi is the theme used and many of the modules, menus, or buttons are not accessible, because the theme chosen is not natively accessible. We have a plan to revise the website in 2024 to move towards a more accessible theme. Please contact admin@allergyasthmanetwork if you need something fixed. We will respond within 3 business days and will endeavor to fix the problem within 10 business days.

Assessment approach

Allergy & Asthma Network assessed the accessibility of Allergy & Asthma Network by the following approaches:

  • Self-evaluation

Formal complaints

Please contact admin@allergyasthmanetwork if you need something fixed. We will respond within 3 business days and will endeavor to fix the problem within 10 business days.

Formal approval of this accessibility statement

This Accessibility Statement is approved by:
Allergy & Asthma Network
Kolleen Shallcross
Accessibility Ombudsperson

Date

This statement was created on 6 March 2023