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Doorway Housing Portal Accessibility Statement

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), published by the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium, defines best practices for designers and developers to improve accessibility of websites for people with disabilities, particularly those with visual impairments. The goal is to deliver a Doorway Housing Portal (“Portal”) experience that achieves “Level AA” conformance according to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines v2.1 (WCAG 2.1). 

Doorway welcomes your feedback on the accessibility of the Portal. Please email doorway@bayareametro.gov if you encounter accessibility issues.

Compatibility

The Portal is designed to be compatible with, and tested on, the following assistive technologies:

  • The latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari web browsers
  • Screen readers and magnification tools within web browsers for computers (Windows & Mac) and mobile devices (iOS/iPhone & Android)

Note that in keeping with the current industry best practice, the Portal does not support any version of Internet Explorer.

Please also note that accessibility of the Portal relies on the following technologies installed on your computer or mobile device: HTML, WAI-ARIA, CSS and JavaScript.

Despite best efforts to ensure accessibility of the Portal, there may be some limitations. Below is a description of known limitations and potential solutions. 

  • Limited ability to test with older versions of JAWS (Job Access With Speech), due to the cost and complexity of the software. For JAWS testing, Doorway relies on external manual testers, which can take more time than in-house testing. Please note, however, that Portal developers are currently undergoing a certification process through International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) to improve their ability to address JAWS screen reader issues.
  • Given a digital map experience can be difficult for visually impaired users to navigate, the Portal provides skip links that will allow a screen reader user to skip directly to the listings information and avoid having to navigate through the map.

How the Portal’s Accessibility is Evaluated

The following are employed to assess the accessibility of Doorway Housing Portal:

  • Initial assessment, leveraging automated reporting tools that provide an overview of issues present across the site.
  • Follow-up on the initial automated reporting with manual compatibility testing with screen readers and magnification tools on computers and mobile devices, with assistance from accessibility community partners.
  • Usability testing with community members with lived experience to complement the expert testing with accessibility community partners. Usability testing with a range of people with different experiences can reveal issues that would be missed otherwise.
  • Use of tools during automated testing that, coupled with manual QA, ensure standards are met.
  • Features tested to ensure compatibility with basic assistive technologies through our primary accessibility community partner, San Francisco Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired. 
  • Introduction of new features are tested to ensure they are compatible with basic assistive technologies. 
  • Continued regular user testing sessions with accessibility community partners.
  • Expand the pool of accessibility community partners to include additional feedback from persons representing a wider range of disabilities, as well as varying technology expertise, age, ethnicity and education.