Accessibility Statement

Last updated: 29 June 2026

1. Commitment

Waffles World Records aims to make the public registry, evidence explanations, legal information, and submission routes usable by as many people as reasonably possible. Accessibility is treated as an ongoing product requirement rather than a one-time declaration. A feature is not considered complete merely because it looks correct with a mouse on a large screen.

Where a barrier is identified, priority is given to core functions: finding a record, understanding its status, reading sources and caveats, submitting evidence, challenging an entry, and contacting the registry.

2. Target standard

The public interface is designed with the principles of perceivability, operability, understandability, and robustness in mind. The project works toward broad alignment with WCAG 2.2 Level AA practices, while recognising that formal conformance requires repeated expert and user testing across content, code, devices, and assistive technologies.

This statement is not a certification by an external accessibility body. It describes the current design intent, implemented features, known limitations, and feedback route.

3. Current accessibility features

• semantic headings, page landmarks, navigation labels, and descriptive page titles;
• a skip-to-content link and visible keyboard-focus treatment;
• keyboard-operable navigation, registry filters, dialogs, forms, accordions, and privacy controls;
• focus trapping and Escape-key closing for modal interfaces;
• responsive layouts designed for narrow phones, tablets, laptops, and large screens;
• support for browser zoom and flexible text wrapping;
• reduced-motion support through operating-system preferences;
• high-contrast dark presentation with text that does not depend on colour alone;
• alternative text for meaningful imagery and empty alternatives for decorative assets;
• one clear page heading and consistent section hierarchy on key routes;
• no auto-playing audio, flashing media, or forced animation;
• print styles for long legal and editorial documents.

4. Forms, validation, and errors

Public forms use visible labels, required-field indicators, native input types, maximum lengths, clear consent wording, and server-side validation. Error messages are displayed in text rather than by colour alone. Form submission buttons show a sending state and are restored when a page is returned from browser history.

Some browser validation messages are supplied by the user’s browser and operating system. If an error is difficult to understand or a form cannot be completed with assistive technology, contact the registry by email and describe the blocked step.

5. Images, source documents, and external material

Current record artwork is editorial and locally hosted. It is separated from documentary evidence and given descriptive alternative text where it conveys page context. Decorative logos and seals may use empty alternatives when surrounding text already provides the same information.

Third-party source pages, archived webpages, historical PDFs, scanned documents, source videos, and research papers may not meet the same accessibility standard. They may lack captions, transcripts, tagged headings, selectable text, sufficient contrast, or logical reading order. Waffles World Records does not control those external files.

Where practical, a visitor may request a plain-language summary, source explanation, transcript, or alternative way to locate the relevant record information.

6. Known limitations

• Long evidence, methodology, and legal pages require substantial scrolling on mobile.
• Some source titles and URLs are necessarily technical or lengthy.
• Third-party documents may not be tagged or screen-reader friendly.
• Locally generated illustrations cannot substitute for accessible documentary evidence.
• Specialised terminology such as provenance, corroboration, adjudication, and current-holder confidence may require the FAQ or methodology guide.
• The current site is English-only.

These limitations are reviewed as the project develops. A limitation may be addressed by code changes, content restructuring, an alternative format, or clearer explanatory text.

7. Testing approach

The build is checked for keyboard access, focus order, responsive overflow, duplicate IDs, missing form labels, missing image alternatives, JavaScript syntax, PHP syntax, reduced-motion behaviour, and route availability. Responsive review also includes narrow-screen layouts and long-text stress cases.

Automated checks cannot establish full accessibility. Real-world testing with representative screen readers, browsers, magnification, voice input, switch access, and users with disabilities remains important. Future audits should record the tested combinations and unresolved issues.

8. Feedback and assistance

Report an accessibility barrier to info@wafflesworldrecords.com. Include the page URL, device, browser, assistive technology if relevant, the action you attempted, the problem encountered, and the format or outcome that would help.

Reasonable requests are reviewed individually. Core access barriers, inaccessible legal information, blocked form submissions, and issues preventing a user from understanding a record status receive priority.