--- title: "Accessibility Statement" date: 2026-05-05 author: "Barry Elad" --- # Accessibility Statement SQ Magazine reports on cybersecurity incidents, defensive posture, and the technology that breaks or holds. The reading workflow assumes long sessions, heavy keyboard use, multiple tabs, and frequent content sharing into ticketing systems and wikis. Accessibility for that audience is operational hygiene, not a checkbox. ## Threat Model for Reading A few realistic scenarios shape how we build the site: - A SOC analyst reading an incident write-up at 3 a.m. with reduced motion enabled and dark mode active in their OS - A pentester taking notes through a screen reader while compiling a report - A reader on a remote cellular link where animation hogs CPU and breaks readability - A keyboard-only user copying code blocks into a terminal The site has to behave for each of these without surprise. Each scenario drives a concrete build decision rather than an abstract aspiration, and an automated scan in a clean browser does not settle the question. A feature that clears a checker but fails the 3 a.m. analyst still counts as a defect. ## What We Engineer Against Conformance benchmark: **WCAG 2.1 Level AA**, with Level AAA targeted where it is achievable without reducing reading clarity. Concrete behaviours we hold the site to: LayerBehaviourColourBody text against background is at or above 4.5:1; large text at or above 3:1; we do not encode meaning in colour aloneKeyboardEvery interactive element reachable via Tab, focusable in a logical reading order, with a non-colour focus ringMotionprefers-reduced-motion: reduce disables marquee animations, reveal effects, and parallax scrollDensityTap targets at or above 48 CSS pixels square; line height at 1.5 or above on body copyStructureSingle h1 per article, monotonic heading hierarchy, semantic landmarks (main, nav, aside, footer)ResizeLayout holds at 200% browser zoom and at 320 CSS pixel viewport width without clippingFormsLabels bound to inputs, error states announced through aria-live regions## Known Residual Risks We track these in the same backlog we use for site bugs. Each item is scoped to a specific refresh pass rather than parked on a separate accessibility wishlist. This disclosure keeps expectations honest about what the site does not yet do. - Pre-2024 articles contain images without alt text and tables without proper headers. Each refresh pass closes a batch - Code blocks rely on a syntax highlighter; we keep the underlying pre and code semantic so screen readers and copy-paste both work, but the highlighting palette is not configurable per reader - Embedded video and social posts carry their host platforms’ accessibility profiles. YouTube captions are typically available; X embeds offer no captions ## Reporting an Issue If something on the site is not usable for you, escalate it like any other defect: 1. Email with subject “A11y” and the URL 2. Or contact us using the [contact form](https://sqmagazine.co.uk/contact/) 3. Include the assistive technology in use, the browser, and the operating system if that detail is available We confirm receipt within two working days. Critical blockers (a feature unusable to a class of readers) are treated as production incidents and patched on the same day, where possible. ## External Recourse UK readers may also raise the matter with the **Equality and Human Rights Commission** under the Equality Act 2010. Readers in EU member states can refer to their national accessibility regulator under the European Accessibility Act framework. ## Revision Cadence Last reviewed: **5 May 2026**. We re-review after any material front-end change, and the dated entry here is the canonical signal that a pass happened. Readers who spot a regression between reviews should use the reporting route above rather than wait for the next cycle.