Accessibility: built to be used by everyone.
A doctoral candidate reading this site at midnight with a screen reader, a zoomed-in phone or a keyboard alone should get the same desk as anyone else. This page says how we try to make that true, what we know still falls short, and how to tell us when something does not work. Last revised 23 August 2026.
The working reference
The site is built with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1, level AA) as the working reference. We test against them as we build and when we change things; we do not claim a certificate, because the honest statement is what follows.
What the site does
- Structure. Every page has one heading at the top, headings in order beneath it, and landmarks for the masthead, the main content and the footer. A "skip to the content" link is the first thing the keyboard reaches.
- Keyboard. Everything you can do with a mouse you can do with a keyboard: the menu, the docket rows, the level-of-review reading, the forms, the seasonal offer, the chat. Focus is always visible — a violet outline — and never trapped, except inside the seasonal offer while it is open, where it is held on purpose and released when you close it with Escape, the close button or the backdrop. Escape also closes the chat and the menu, and focus returns to where it was.
- Text and contrast. Body copy is 16 pixels or larger; captions, labels and footer notes are smaller but never below 13 pixels; every form field is at least 16 pixels, so phones do not zoom in on their own. Text sits on its ground at a contrast of at least 4.5:1, including the light text on the dark footer and the deep violet closer.
- Targets. Links in lists, buttons, menu rows and form controls are at least 44 pixels tall.
- The drawings. The order-of-review drawing, the drift comparison and the three illustrated portraits are inline SVG with a role of image and a plain-language description of what they show. Decorative marks — the seal, the stars, the case numerals — are hidden from assistive technology, and the meaning they carry is repeated in text next to them.
- Forms. Every field has a visible label. Optional fields say so in the label; everything else is required. Errors are written as a sentence, announced as a status message, and the field that needs attention receives focus.
- Motion. The site animates almost nothing — a pressed stamp, a smooth scroll. If your system asks for reduced motion, both stop.
- Without JavaScript. Every word of the site is in the page. The docket rows, the reading, the chat and the offer need JavaScript; the content and the forms' wording do not.
What we know still falls short
- The drawings are described in a sentence, not line by line. If you need the full content of a drawing in text, ask and we will send it.
- The live chat depends on JavaScript and on our system being reachable. When it is not, the intake form and hello@gcuirb.com reach the same desk.
- The two typefaces load from Google Fonts. On a slow connection the page appears first in your system's serif and sans-serif and swaps when the fonts arrive; nothing moves more than a line.
- The level-of-review reading announces each new question to assistive technology; if your reader does not catch it, the FAQ answer on levels of review walks through the same five questions in plain text.
Tell us
If anything on this site does not work for you — a control the keyboard cannot reach, a drawing with no description, a colour you cannot read, a form you cannot complete — write to hello@gcuirb.com and say which page and what happened. A person reads it, and the fix goes on the docket. If you need the free application review and the form is the obstacle, send the email instead; the desk treats it the same way.
About this page
gcuirb.com is an independent consulting practice, not affiliated with Grand Canyon University. The privacy page sets out what the site collects; the terms page sets out how the practice works with you.