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Accessibility Statement

CLIMAware exists to make climate information reach everyone — that has to start with the website itself.

Last updated: September 2026

1. Our commitment

One of CLIMAware's core objectives is empowering vulnerable and marginalised communities — including people with low literacy, disabilities, or affected by conflict — so accessibility isn't an afterthought for this website. We aim for this site to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at level AA.

2. Measures we've taken

  • A "skip to main content" link at the top of every page for keyboard and screen-reader users.
  • Descriptive alt text on every meaningful image; decorative images are hidden from assistive technology.
  • Semantic HTML headings and landmarks (header, nav, main, footer) to support screen-reader navigation.
  • A mobile menu that is fully operable by keyboard and announces its open/closed state.
  • A responsive layout that reflows for zoomed text and small screens rather than requiring horizontal scrolling.
  • Colour choices designed to keep text readable against its background at standard sizes.

3. Known limitations

We're aware of a few things worth flagging honestly:

  • This statement is based on our own self-assessment against WCAG 2.1 AA, carried out during development, rather than an independent third-party audit.
  • The Community Watch and newsletter forms submit via a mailto: link, which opens the visitor's own email application — behaviour and accessibility here can vary depending on the visitor's mail client and assistive technology setup. We're monitoring this and may move to a standard web form in future.
  • Some project photos are documentary (event and workshop photography) rather than illustrative, and their alt text describes what's shown as clearly as possible, but may not capture every visual detail.

4. Feedback

If you come across any part of this website that's hard to use with a screen reader, keyboard-only navigation, screen magnification, or any other assistive technology, please tell us — we want to fix it. Contact info@mymadeiraisland.com, describing the page and the issue you ran into.

5. This statement

This is a voluntary commitment rather than a claim of certified compliance. We'll revisit and update this statement as the website evolves and as we get feedback from real users.