Using Policy Core with a keyboard, a screen reader or a printer

Policy Core is meant to be usable by everyone in a care team, including people who use a keyboard instead of a mouse, a screen reader, a magnifier, voice control, or a printer. This page is our accessibility statement: the standard we aim for, how we check, what we have and have not done, and how to tell us about a problem.

Our standard #

We aim for the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at level AA, the standard that UK public-sector bodies work to, and to go beyond it where we can. Where we meet a level AAA criterion we say so below, and where we do not, we say that too.

How we check #

Every change is checked by an audit that opens 34 different pages (as a visitor, a member of staff, a manager and an administrator) in a real browser, in three conditions each: a normal desktop window; a 320-pixel-wide window, which is what 400 per cent zoom gives; and the same narrow window with the user's own larger text spacing forced on. For each one it checks:

• every WCAG 2.2 A and AA rule in the axe-core scanner, plus its best-practice rules;
• text contrast against the stricter 7 to 1 level (AAA), not just 4.5 to 1;
• that every control you press is at least 24 by 24 pixels (AA) and that every focusable thing shows a focus outline at least 2 pixels thick;
• that nothing makes the page scroll sideways at 320 pixels, and nothing is cut off when text spacing is increased;
• that the page declares its language and has a title.

The writing tools are tested in a real browser too: the toolbar's keyboard behaviour and button states, the "you will be signed out" warning, and the warning before you leave a page with unsaved changes. The printed PDFs are checked separately (see Printing a policy or saving it as a PDF).

Using a keyboard #

• Every page can be used without a mouse. Press Tab to move forward, Shift+Tab to move back, Enter or Space to press a button.
• The first thing on every page is a Skip to content link. Press Tab once when a page loads to find it. It moves you into the main part of the page.
• Where you are is always shown by a thick outline with a gap around it, so it is visible on any background.
• The text editor's toolbar is one stop in the tab order. Once you are on it, the ← and → keys move between buttons, and Home and End jump to the first and last. Pressing Tab leaves it, so you are never trapped.
• In the editor, Ctrl+B makes bold and Ctrl+I italic (Cmd on a Mac).
• Tables wider than the screen scroll inside their own box, which you can reach with Tab and move with the arrow keys.
• Nothing needs dragging. Parts of a policy are moved with buttons.
• If a form comes back with an error, keyboard focus moves to the message.

Using a screen reader #

• Pages use real headings in order, and landmarks (banner, navigation, main, footer), so you can move around by them.
• Every picture here, and every picture a manager adds, has a description. The editor will not add one without it.
• Buttons say exactly what they do: "Move part 2.1 up", not just an arrow.
• Toggle buttons in the editor (bold, italic, lists) announce whether they are on or off.
• Tables have captions or labels, and header cells that apply to their rows and columns.
• Progress bars say their value in words ("78 per cent read"), and the percentage is also written next to them.
• Messages after you do something ("Saved", "Picture added") are announced.
• The number of a part is a link labelled "Part 2.1.3", so it is not read as unexplained digits.
• Abbreviations are explained where they first appear in the main guides, and in the Glossary.

Colour, contrast and size #

• Text and its background meet the 7 to 1 enhanced contrast ratio (WCAG level AAA), higher than the 4.5 to 1 that level AA asks for.
• Colour is never the only signal. "Read", "To read", "Overdue", "New" and "Changed" are words in labels, and links in text are underlined.
• The layout reflows: at 320 pixels wide (400 per cent zoom) nothing needs sideways scrolling except wide tables, which scroll inside their own box. Text can be enlarged to 200 per cent or more without loss of content.
• If you set your own text spacing (taller lines, wider letter and word gaps), nothing is cut off or overlaps.
• Buttons and form fields are at least 44 pixels tall, the larger AAA target size. A few small text links, such as the "Help with this page" link and the numbers of parts, are 24 to 32 pixels: they meet AA but not the larger AAA size.
• The text lines are no wider than about 70 characters and are not justified.
• Animation is minimal and is switched off if your system asks for reduced motion.
• Windows High Contrast and other forced-colours modes have their own styles, so that boxes, buttons and labels keep visible borders and focus outlines use your system's highlight colour, and borders get stronger if your system asks for more contrast. These styles are written to the standard but we have not been able to test them on every system.

Time limits #

• You are signed out after 2 hours without activity, or 12 hours after signing in. The sign-in page tells you this before you start.
• While you are typing or clicking, the page keeps your session alive, so slow, careful writing is not cut off.
• If you stop, a notice appears 10 minutes before the end, with a Stay signed in button.
• The 12-hour limit cannot be extended, but you are warned 10 minutes before it so you can save.
• If you try to leave a page you were writing on without saving, your browser asks you first.

Signing in #

Policy Core never asks you to solve a puzzle, remember a pattern or transcribe characters. You can sign in with an emailed link or a password, and you can paste into the password box, so a password manager works.

Reading level #

These help pages are written in short, plain sentences. Measured with a standard reading-age formula the pages come out at about US grade 5 (age 10 to 11), with the hardest page at about grade 7. This is well within the "lower secondary education" level that WCAG's AAA criterion asks for.

Printing and PDFs #

• Policies and records print on A4, black on white, without menus, with page numbers, web addresses written out and headings kept with their text.
• In Chrome and Edge the saved PDF is tagged (headings, lists and tables are marked for screen readers), has bookmarks, a title and a language. We check this on every change. Other browsers may produce a PDF with less structure. See Printing a policy or saving it as a PDF.

Known limits #

Tell us about a problem #

If you cannot use part of Policy Core, or something here is wrong, please email us at hello@findcarescotland.com. Tell us the page, what you were trying to do, and the browser and any assistive technology you use. We will reply, and we treat a barrier as a fault to fix, not a complaint to manage.

This statement was last checked against the product on 14 Nov 2026.