Accessibility
Accessibility statement
Last updated 25 September 2026
We want everyone who works for a charity to be able to use this site, however they see, hear, move or read. This page says how close we are to that, where we still fall short, and what we are doing about each gap.
It covers every page of thestart.agency. is run by one person, Marc de Andrés, a self-employed professional in Spain, as our privacy notice sets out.
The standard we aim for
We aim to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at level AA. They are written by the W3C, the body that agrees the rules of the web, and are published at w3.org/TR/WCAG22.
We chose this level because it is the one GOV.UK asks UK public bodies to meet, so it is the level a UK charity already knows (GOV.UK, "Understanding accessibility requirements for public sector bodies"). It is also higher than the level Spain names for private websites, which is based on an older version of the same guidelines (Real Decreto 193/2023, article 14.2).
No law makes us meet it in full today. The part on the law, further down, explains why, and what we owe you anyway.
How far we meet it
This site partly meets WCAG 2.2 AA. We checked it on 25 September 2026.
- Google's Lighthouse accessibility check (version 12.8.2) gave 100 out of 100 to all seven pages we ran it on: the home page, Grant Applications, Book a call, the AI standard, and the privacy, cookie and terms pages.
- On the Grant Applications page, all 38 links and buttons on show can be reached with the keyboard, and each shows a clear outline when it has focus. The rest sit in closed menus until you open them.
- At 320 pixels wide, the width of a page zoomed to 400 percent, none of the six pages we tried scrolls sideways.
- The paintings are there for their beauty, so they carry empty text on purpose and screen readers pass over them. Each chart carries a written summary.
A full score is not the whole story: the Lighthouse report itself says an automatic check finds only some problems, and asks for testing by hand as well. We did, and found the issues below.
Known issues, and what we are doing
On the home page and the solution pages, the painted harbour keeps moving and there is no button to pause it. WCAG asks for one (success criterion 2.2.2). If your device is set to reduce motion, the picture holds still. We are adding a pause button to every page that moves.
Some small ochre labels on the darker paper reach a contrast of 4.2 to 1, and some grey notes reach 3.0 to 1. WCAG asks for 4.5 to 1 (criterion 1.4.3). We are darkening both colours.
Where words sit on the moving picture, their contrast changes as it moves, and no tool can measure that for us. We have not proved it passes. We are checking each place by eye and adding a pale wash behind the words where it is needed.
More known issues
The dots under cards you swipe. On a phone, the dots that show which card you are on are pale: 1.4 to 1 against the page, where WCAG asks 3 to 1 for controls (criterion 1.4.11). They are real buttons, 24 pixels square and named, for example, "Card 1 of 4", so they work with a keyboard and a screen reader. We are making them darker.
The page settling. When you stop scrolling near a part of a page, the page moves itself by up to a fifth of the screen to line that part up. We do not count this as a failure of the standard, but it can surprise you. It is switched off when your device is set to reduce motion.
Ask for another form, or tell us about a problem
If you need anything on this site in another form, such as plain text, large print, or a call where we go through it with you, email marc@thestart.agency. Tell us which page, what you need, and how you would like to receive it.
If you find a problem that is not on this page, or you think we have not met the standard, write to the same address. Marc de Andrés reads every message himself.
We will reply within 5 working days.
If you are not happy with our reply, in Great Britain the Equality Advisory and Support Service can advise you (equalityadvisoryservice.com). In Spain, the Office for Disability (Oficina de Atención a la Discapacidad, OADIS) receives complaints about access to websites.
How we tested
We tested on 25 September 2026, before the new site went live, in Google Chrome.
- The automatic check. Lighthouse 12.8.2, the accessibility part only, on seven pages, as a phone and as a computer.
- By hand. We measured the contrast of every piece of text on the same seven pages, gave focus to every link and button on the Grant Applications page, went through the booking calendar step by step, read the code for motion and for images, and narrowed six pages to 320 pixels.
Not yet tested. We have not yet tested with screen readers (VoiceOver, NVDA or JAWS) or with speech control. We have not yet checked that the bar at the top never hides the item in focus (criterion 2.4.11). Pages not yet built, such as the Grants Finder, the articles and the published studies, will be tested before they open.
We will test again whenever a page changes, and in full at least every three months. The date at the top changes each time.
The law, and why this page exists
The Equality Act 2010 asks anyone who serves the public to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, including giving information in a form they can use (sections 20(6) and 29(7)). We treat this as our duty to every UK reader.
Real Decreto 193/2023 asks businesses that serve the public to give information in accessible forms (article 14.1). From 1 January 2029, it asks private websites about new offers to meet levels A and AA of the Spanish standard UNE 139803 (article 14.2 and final provision six). We aim to meet that now.
The UK Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018 and Spain's Real Decreto 1112/2018 cover public bodies only (GOV.UK, above; Real Decreto 1112/2018, article 2). The European Accessibility Act covers set offers to consumers, and exempts a service business with fewer than 10 staff and at most 2 million euros a year (Ley 11/2023, articles 2.2 and 3.3). We work for charities, not consumers, and we are one person.
Where each rule comes from
- WCAG 2.2: w3.org/TR/WCAG22
- UK public sector rules, and the Equality Act duty they build on: gov.uk/guidance/accessibility-requirements-for-public-sector-websites-and-apps
- Equality Act 2010, sections 20 and 29: legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15
- Real Decreto 193/2023: boe.es, reference BOE-A-2023-7417
- Real Decreto 1112/2018: boe.es, reference BOE-A-2018-12699
- Ley 11/2023: boe.es, reference BOE-A-2023-11022
- Directive (EU) 2019/882: eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/882/oj
- The shape of this page follows the GOV.UK sample accessibility statement: gov.uk/government/publications/sample-accessibility-statement