Accessibility
We aim for WCAG 2.2 AA on towpath.digital. This statement says what we have actually tested, when we last tested it, and what we know is still wrong. We would rather name a real gap than publish a clean-looking promise.
What we test, and how
Semantic HTML with one h1 and no skipped heading levels; a skip link and a visible focus ring on every interactive element; keyboard order that matches the reading order; colour contrast measured from computed styles rather than judged by eye; animation that stops under prefers-reduced-motion; and layout checked at 390px wide for horizontal overflow and tap-target size. Page content uses no bitmap images apart from the logo previews on the Press page, which have text alternatives; the decorative star and wave drawings are hidden from screen readers, and the logo carries a text name.
Last tested
22 October 2026, by two automated checks of all 31 pages. The first ran axe-core's WCAG 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2 A and AA rules at 1280px and 390px wide, with reduced motion on: it found no violations after the fixes below. The second checked every page at 390px, 886px and 1280px for horizontal overflow, broken images, one h1 per page and browser console errors, and found none. Automated rules catch only part of what matters; the last full manual pass was 30 August 2026, across all 23 pages the site had then.
Fixed on 22 October 2026
- The grey "usual way" text in the comparison on every product page measured 3.68:1 against white. It is darker now and passes 4.5:1.
- The small print at the foot of every page measured 4.48:1, just under the standard. It is lighter now and passes.
- The link in the cookie message could only be told from the text around it by colour. It is underlined now.
- Product cards that sat alone on their row now share it, so the reading order across a row is complete.
Fixed on 27 September 2026
- The decorative waves at the foot of each page's header ran through the last lines of text. Every header now keeps the waves in their own band below the text.
- A rotated label on the Work and About pages ran down over the text as an unreadable vertical column. It now sits in line, under the card.
- Four stars in the Estate page drawing had no colour set and showed as black on navy. Each now has its product's colour.
- Example dashboards and receipts now say they are illustrations with invented data, in text a screen reader reads.
What the 30 August test found, and what we fixed that day
- Product accent colours were being used as text. The worst pairing measured 1.77:1 against the 4.5:1 the standard requires, on a page's primary call to action. Every text use of a product colour now takes a separate, measured, AA-safe value.
- The comparison-table headings on product pages sat at 3.69:1 and have been darkened.
- The four legal pages carried no site navigation at all. They now use the same header and footer as every other page.
- The animated status dot kept moving for people who ask their device to reduce motion. It stops now.
- Form fields on the contact page were small enough that iOS zoomed the page on focus. They are 16px on small screens.
- The shared header marked "Estate" as the current page on all eleven product pages, which is what a screen reader announced as your location. Removed.
Known gaps, as at 22 October 2026
- Some decorative labels and captions still render below 12px. We are raising the floor.
- Footer link rows sit close together on a small phone and are below the 44px target size.
- Keyboard order and screen-reader output were last checked by hand on 30 August 2026; the October check is automated.
- The small strapline in the logo is below 12px at header size. It is part of the logo artwork, and the logo has a text name.
- This statement covers towpath.digital. Each product site (PayCamp, ServicePay, CentralContacts and the rest) is audited separately and carries its own statement.
Report a problem
If something is hard to use with an assistive tool, please get in touch or email hello@towpath.digital. We aim to reply within five working days, and we will tell you what we are going to do about it. If it involves your personal data, our privacy notice says how we handle it.