Last reviewed: 27 August 2026
Standard:
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, Level AA
Applies to: https://www.helpfordementia.ca
What this report covers
This report records how well Help for Dementia meets WCAG 2.2 Level AA. Accessibility matters particularly here. Many people who use this site are living with dementia, or are supporting someone who is. We test with that in mind.
How we tested
Testing was carried out on 27 August 2026 against the live website, using a combination of:
- Automated scanning with axe-core 4.13 across eleven public pages and six pages that require signing in;
- Direct measurement of text and background colours as they appear on screen, including text over gradients and images, which automated tools cannot assess reliably;
- Keyboard-only testing of every menu, dialogue, form and interactive card;
- Layout testing at 320 pixels wide and at high zoom;
- A review of all 596 course lessons and topics for video and audio content;
- Review of the website’s underlying code.
The public pages tested were the home page, What is Dementia, Memory Wall, Courses, Living Well, Registration, Education Resources, Contact Us, FAQ, Seeds of Hope, and a representative resource page. We also signed in to test the member dashboard, account page, a course page, two lessons and a topic.
Conformance summary
Help for Dementia partially conforms with WCAG 2.2 Level AA. “Partially conforms” means most of the site meets the standard, but some parts do not.
| Result | Number of criteria | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Supports | 42 | The site meets this requirement. |
| Partially supports | 3 | Most of the site meets this requirement, but some parts do not. |
| Does not support | 4 | The site does not currently meet this requirement. |
| Not applicable | 6 | The requirement does not apply to this site. |
All four requirements marked “does not support” relate to video and audio in our online courses. They are described inthe next section.
Detailed results
The tables below list every WCAG 2.2 Level A and AA success criterion and our assessment of each.
Level A
| Success criterion | Conformance | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1.1.1 Non-text Content | Supports | Images carry alternative text describing what they show. Images that are purely decorative are marked as such, so screen readers pass over them instead of reading out a file name. |
| 1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only | Does not support | 75 audio recordings in course lessons have no transcript. |
| 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded) | Does not support | 105 of 121 course videos rely on automatic captions or have none. |
| 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative | Does not support | 155 of 165 items containing media have no written alternative. |
| 1.3.1 Info and Relationships | Partially supports | Two pages skip a heading level. Landmarks, lists and accordions are otherwise correct, and no page now has two main content areas. |
| 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence | Supports | Reading and navigation order match the visual order on all pages tested. |
| 1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics | Supports | No instruction relies on shape, size or position alone. |
| 1.4.1 Use of Color | Supports | No information is conveyed by colour alone. |
| 1.4.2 Audio Control | Not applicable | Nothing plays automatically. |
| 2.1.1 Keyboard | Supports | All content and controls are operable by keyboard, including the Memory Wall, the main menus and every dialogue. |
| 2.1.2 No Keyboard Trap | Supports | Keyboard focus can always be moved away; dialogues close with Escape. |
| 2.1.4 Character Key Shortcuts | Not applicable | No single-key shortcuts. |
| 2.2.1 Timing Adjustable | Not applicable | No time limits. |
| 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide | Supports | Nothing moves automatically; reduced-motion settings are respected. |
| 2.3.1 Three Flashes or Below Threshold | Supports | No flashing content. |
| 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks | Supports | A “Skip to content” link is the first item reached by keyboard and works on every page tested. |
| 2.4.2 Page Titled | Supports | Every page has a unique, descriptive title. |
| 2.4.3 Focus Order | Supports | Keyboard focus follows a logical order. |
| 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) | Supports | Link text says where each link goes. Where a button reads simply “Learn More”, the name of the page it leads to is added for screen reader users, so the link still makes sense when read out on its own. |
| 2.5.1 Pointer Gestures | Supports | No complex gestures are required. |
| 2.5.2 Pointer Cancellation | Supports | Actions complete on release, so they can be cancelled. |
| 2.5.3 Label in Name | Supports | Visible labels match the names used by assistive technology. |
| 2.5.4 Motion Actuation | Not applicable | Nothing is operated by moving the device. |
| 3.1.1 Language of Page | Supports | Each page declares English (Canada). |
| 3.2.1 On Focus | Supports | Nothing changes unexpectedly when an item receives focus. |
| 3.2.2 On Input | Supports | Nothing changes unexpectedly when information is entered. |
| 3.3.1 Error Identification | Supports | Form errors are described in text and announced. |
| 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions | Supports | Every form field has a label. |
| 3.3.7 Redundant Entry | Supports | Information is not requested twice in the same process. |
| 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value | Supports | Buttons, menus and dialogues correctly report what they are and their current state, and embedded videos are announced by their title rather than as an unnamed frame. |
Level AA
| Success criterion | Conformance | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1.2.4 Captions (Live) | Not applicable | No live audio or video. |
| 1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded) | Does not support | No course video has audio description. |
| 1.3.4 Orientation | Supports | The site works in both portrait and landscape. |
| 1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose | Supports | Name, email, phone and address fields support browser autofill. |
| 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) | Partially supports | 94 of 96 measured items pass. Two buttons on the Seeds of Hope page place white text on a light background; we are correcting these. |
| 1.4.4 Resize Text | Supports | Text can be enlarged to 200% without loss of content. |
| 1.4.5 Images of Text | Supports | Text is real text, not pictures of text, apart from logos. |
| 1.4.10 Reflow | Supports | All pages tested work at 320 pixels wide without sideways scrolling. |
| 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast | Supports | Buttons, borders and focus outlines have sufficient contrast. |
| 1.4.12 Text Spacing | Supports | Content remains readable when text spacing is increased. |
| 1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus | Supports | Menus can be dismissed with Escape and stay open while in use. |
| 2.4.5 Multiple Ways | Supports | Content can be found via search, menus and listings. |
| 2.4.6 Headings and Labels | Partially supports | Every page has a main heading, but two pages skip a heading level. |
| 2.4.7 Focus Visible | Supports | A clear outline shows which item has keyboard focus. |
| 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured | Supports | The item with keyboard focus is always visible; no link is hidden behind the header that stays at the top of the screen. |
| 2.5.7 Dragging Movements | Supports | Nothing requires dragging; buttons are provided as alternatives. |
| 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum) | Supports | Buttons and links are large enough, or sufficiently spaced. |
| 3.1.2 Language of Parts | Supports | French course titles and materials are marked as French, so a screen reader pronounces them correctly rather than reading them as English. |
| 3.2.3 Consistent Navigation | Supports | Navigation appears in the same place on every page. |
| 3.2.4 Consistent Identification | Supports | Repeated features are named consistently. |
| 3.2.6 Consistent Help | Supports | Contact details appear in a consistent location. |
| 3.3.3 Error Suggestion | Supports | Form errors explain how to correct them. |
| 3.3.4 Error Prevention | Not applicable | No legal, financial or data-deletion transactions. Donations are handled by a separate service. |
| 3.3.8 Accessible Authentication | Supports | Passwords can be pasted and password managers work; no memory test is imposed. |
| 4.1.3 Status Messages | Supports | Updates such as search results and form errors are announced. |
Tell us about a problem
If you find a barrier on this site, or need something from it in a different format, please tell us. Your feedback directly shapes what we fix next.
If you use a screen reader, we would particularly like to hear from you: we have not yet completed formal screen reader testing, and your experience would help us more than any automated check.
Technical information
This website relies on HTML, WAI-ARIA, CSS and JavaScript. It is designed to work with current versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, used together with assistive technologies such as screen readers, magnification and speech recognition. It may not work well in browsers more than two major versions out of date.
Some content is provided by third-party services, including our course platform, events calendar, video hosting and donation processor. Their accessibility is partly outside our direct control. We raise problems with those providers when we find them.
This report was prepared by – and accessible web development – was performed by Paper Crane on behalf of the Alzheimer Society of Alberta and Northwest Territories, using automated testing, manual keyboard testing, direct colour measurement and code review. It reflects the version of the site published on 27 August 2026 and will be reviewed as work continues.