Accessibility

The Chamber exists to connect people to one another, and a website that some of those people cannot use is not doing that job. We build this site so that it works with a keyboard, with a screen reader, at a larger text size, with reduced motion, and on a slow connection.

What we aim for

We target WCAG 2.2 Level AA, the standard referenced by the Americans with Disabilities Act and by New York State. That is the bar we hold new pages to before they go live, not something we intend to reach later.

What that means in practice

• Every control is reachable and usable by keyboard alone, in a sensible order, with a visible focus outline so you can always see where you are.
• Color contrast is measured, not judged by eye. Body text on this site sits well above the 4.5:1 the standard asks for, and the buttons, rules and icons clear the 3:1 required of interface elements.
• Nothing that moves is decorative and unavoidable. If your device is set to reduce motion, the entrance animations do not run at all rather than running more slowly.
• Headings describe the page, in order, so a screen reader can be used to skim it the way a sighted reader skims with their eyes.
• Images carry alt text, and images that are purely decorative are marked so a screen reader passes over them instead of reading a filename aloud.
• Text resizes. Turn your browser or phone text size up and the layout reflows rather than clipping words or overlapping them.
• Tap targets are large enough to hit without precision, and a link's visible words match the name a screen reader announces for it.

How we check

Every page is tested with automated auditing on each release, and the site currently scores 100 out of 100 for accessibility in Google Lighthouse. Automated testing catches perhaps a third of real problems, so pages are also walked through by keyboard before release. We do not currently commission an independent audit by people who use assistive technology daily, and that is the honest gap between a good score and a genuinely proven site.

Where it falls short

These are the parts we know are not there yet:

• Member-supplied content. Members write their own listing text and upload their own logos and photographs. We prompt for alternative text but cannot guarantee every member has written it well.
• The map. The interactive map on location pages comes from a third party. Every address it shows is also printed as text on the same page, with a phone number and a link to directions, so nothing is only available inside the map.
• Documents. Some files we publish or link to, particularly ones supplied by others, are PDFs that were not built with tagging or a reading order. Ask us and we will get you the content in another form.
• Older news articles. Pieces carried over from the Chamber's previous website may have thinner alt text than what we write today. We correct these as we find them.

Tell us about a problem

If any part of this site is difficult or impossible for you to use, we want to hear about it, and you should not have to explain why. Tell us the page and what went wrong and we will reply within two business days and tell you what we are doing about it. If a fix will take time, we will get you the information another way in the meantime.

• Email hello@melvillechamber.org
• Call 631-517-0017
• Or use the contact form

This statement was last reviewed in September 2026.