Accessibility statement

How accessible the site is

Fully conformant with WCAG 2.2 AA, as far as our own testing shows. Every public page passed our tests. The one problem our first tests found, with the notice shown on your first visit, is fixed and listed below.

What we tested, and how

On 7 October 2026 we tested every public page: the home page, What we build, How we work, Ownership, About, Contact, Posts, How we measure this site, the five legal pages, this statement, the sign-in page and the page shown for an address that does not exist. Each was tested at two screen widths, 375 pixels (a phone) and 1280 pixels (a laptop).

• Automatically, with axe-core 4.10 and with the accessibility checks in Lighthouse 12.6.
• By the checks a person makes by hand, run by script in a desktop browser and read by us: each page and the enquiry form by keyboard alone; the order and visibility of keyboard focus, and whether anything covers it; the skip link; the order of headings; the form’s labels and error messages; the purpose of every link; text alternatives for images; colour contrast, including our orange wherever it is used; each page at 200% zoom and reflowed to 320 pixels wide; increased text spacing; reduced motion; and the language of each page.

Datum Forge did this testing itself. It was not an independent audit, and it did not include testing by disabled people or with a screen reader on a phone. We will say so here when either has been done. An outside automated review run the same night found two faults our own checks had passed, both visible only on screen; we confirmed both by screenshot, and both are fixed and listed below.

On 16 October 2026 we ran the automated checks and the keyboard walk again on every public page, at both widths, with the notice shown on a first visit open and again after answering it. They found no problem.

What we found and fixed

• The first time you visit, a notice asks how this site may count your visit. While it was open, moving through a page with the keyboard could land on a link or a field that the notice hid completely (WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.4.11, Focus Not Obscured). The notice no longer hides anything the keyboard can reach. Found fixed when tested again on 16 October 2026.
• The ring that shows which link or field has keyboard focus was a light yellow that stood out from the page at only 1.5 to 1. It is now near-black, at 17.9 to 1. Fixed on 7 October 2026.
• The table on the cookie policy, which scrolls sideways on a phone, could not be reached by keyboard. Now it can. Fixed on 7 October 2026.
• On the home page, the three descriptions under “Size. Design. Build.” were dark text on a dark panel and could not be read at all (1 to 1). They are now dark text on the page, at 17.9 to 1. Fixed on 8 October 2026.
• On phones, the site’s name in the bar at the foot of the screen was squeezed until it broke one letter per line. Below 600 pixels wide the bar now shows the anvil mark alone, which screen readers still announce as “Datum Forge home”. Fixed on 8 October 2026.
• The large illustration on the home page was read aloud by screen readers as a long design description, though it carries no information. It is now marked as decorative, and the founders’ portraits now say only whose portrait each is. Fixed on 7 October 2026.

What passed

On every page: one main heading and headings in order; a skip link to the main content; a page title that says what the page is; English (UK) set as the page language; text at or above the 4.5 to 1 contrast ratio; no sideways scrolling at 320 pixels wide or at 200% zoom; nothing lost with text spacing increased; no animation, and no smooth scrolling when your device asks for reduced motion. Our orange sits behind dark text, where it passes, or is decoration, and never carries meaning on its own. The enquiry form labels every field, names each error in words beside the field, and moves focus to the first field to fix.

What this statement does not cover

The private workspace the founders sign in to. This statement is about the public website.

If something does not work for you

Email hello@datum-forge.com with the page and what went wrong. A person reads it, and we will fix what we can or send you what you need another way.

About this statement

Prepared on 7 October 2026 from the testing described above, revised on 8 October 2026 for the two fixes found by the outside review, and revised on 18 October 2026 after the testing of 16 October found the last known problem fixed. We will revise it after any change to how the site is built.