Accessibility statement

Draft: this statement is awaiting review by a solicitor. It describes the website as it stood on 12 October 2026, and we will check every statement against the finished site before launch.

We want everyone to be able to use the Tying The Knot website and the invitations we make. We work to WCAG 2.2 level AA, a web accessibility standard published by the W3C. This page explains the checks we use, what already works, what we know falls short, and how to report a problem. We do not claim that every page meets level AA in full.

Which standard do we work to?

WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. WCAG 2.2 is a recommendation of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The version we use is dated 12 December 2024, and it was first published as a recommendation on 5 October 2023. It has three levels: A, AA and AAA. We work to level AA.

We say "work to" on purpose. We are not claiming that every page meets level AA in full, because some checks that need a person have not been recorded yet. See "What have we not checked yet?" below.

This statement covers the pages of tyingtheknot.ie. The example invitations are separate sites, covered further down. It does not yet cover the invitation sites we will make for couples.

What works today?

• Keyboard. Press Tab at the top of a page and a "Skip to the content" link appears. A visible outline shows which link or button you are on.
• The menu. The Menu button tells a screen reader whether the menu is open. Escape closes the menu and puts you back on the button.
• Structure and language. Each page says it is in English as used in Ireland, and marks its header, main content, footer and navigation areas, so a screen reader can move between them. The current page is marked in the navigation.
• Targets. The links and buttons in the main navigation are at least 44 pixels tall. WCAG 2.2 asks for at least 24 by 24 pixels (criterion 2.5.8).
• Motion. The home page opens as a sealed envelope, and nothing plays by itself: the film plays when you press the seal. If your device is set to reduce motion, the seal goes straight to the open card. If scripts are blocked, the open card is shown from the start.
• Sound. Nothing on the site makes a sound. The films are silent.
• Nothing in the way. There is no cookie banner or pop-up to get past. The cookie policy says why.

The films

The films on this site and in the example invitations are silent, so there is no soundtrack to caption. They are decorative: the names, dates, venue and every other detail they introduce are written in text on the page. The opening film on the home page is hidden from screen readers for that reason.

Each recording on the examples pages has a short written description for screen readers, such as "A recording of Laura & Conor's invitation on a phone". The recordings play only while they are on screen. They have a Pause button, because WCAG asks for a way to pause moving content that starts by itself and lasts more than five seconds (criterion 2.2.2). If your device is set to reduce motion, they do not start until you press Play.

How do we check?

These are the checks we run on the site. We repeat them when a page changes in a way that matters.

1. Keyboard only. We go through each page using only Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter, Space and Escape. Can we reach everything, in a sensible order, always see where we are, and never get stuck?
2. Screen reader. We listen to each page with a screen reader, on a phone and on a computer. Are headings, links, buttons and pictures named in a way that makes sense?
3. Reduced motion. We switch on the "reduce motion" setting on a phone and on a computer. Does anything still start by itself, or move in a way that gets in the way?
4. Contrast. We measure the colours of text, and of the edges of buttons and fields, against the WCAG minimums: 4.5 to 1 for normal text, and 3 to 1 for large text and for the parts of a control you need in order to see it (criteria 1.4.3 and 1.4.11).
5. Zoom and small screens. We zoom in to 200 per cent and use a narrow window. Does anything get cut off, or need scrolling in two directions (criteria 1.4.4 and 1.4.10)?
6. Real phones. We open the pages on an iPhone and on an Android phone.

Automatic tools find only some problems. They cannot tell whether a description makes sense, or whether a page is pleasant to use with a screen reader, so a person has to do the checks above.

What have we not checked yet?

• A full run of the checks above on every page of the finished site has not yet been recorded here, so we cannot tell you what they find. Until it is, we do not claim that the site meets level AA in full.
• No independent accessibility specialist has audited the site.
• We have not yet recorded a full contrast measurement of the finished pages, including text over textured backgrounds, the thin edges of controls and the focus outline on light and dark surfaces.
• The header stays fixed at the top of the screen. The page keeps a margin below it when you jump to a link or tab through the page, so it should not cover what you are on (criterion 2.4.11). We have not yet confirmed that on every page.
• On the example pages, "Try it in the phone" draws the invitation at phone size inside a frame and scales it to fit, so its text can look small. "Open the invitation" opens it at full size in a new tab. The frame is not offered on small screens.

The example invitations

The example invitations are separate sites with their own addresses, and this statement does not cover them. We have not yet audited them against WCAG 2.2 level AA, so we do not claim that they meet it.

We know of one shortfall. At least one example has small round buttons for moving between chapters, and they are smaller than the 24 by 24 pixel minimum that WCAG 2.2 asks for (criterion 2.5.8).

How do you tell us about a problem?

If something on this website is hard to use, or you cannot get the information you need, please tell us. Email hello@tyingtheknot.ie or use the contact page.

It helps if you say which page it was, what you were trying to do, and what device, browser and assistive technology (such as a screen reader) you use, if you are happy to tell us.

We read every message and reply as soon as we can, and we tell you what we plan to do about it. If you need something from this website in another form, such as the text of a page in an email, ask and we will do what we can. If you are not happy with our reply, the terms explain how to make a complaint.

Sources

Each source was last checked on 12 October 2026.

• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, W3C Recommendation, 12 December 2024, and its publication history
• Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.4: Resize Text
• Understanding Success Criterion 1.4.10: Reflow
• Understanding Success Criterion 2.2.2: Pause, Stop, Hide
• Understanding Success Criterion 2.5.8: Target Size (Minimum)