Accessibility statement

Clifford is committed to making its writing tools usable by everyone, including people who rely on assistive technology. This statement explains where we stand against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, what we have already built, what is still in progress, and how to reach us if something gets in your way.

Our commitment

We want Clifford to work for authors regardless of how they read, type, or navigate. Accessibility is part of how we build: every feature, fix, and refactor is expected to leave the app at least as usable with a keyboard and a screen reader as it was before. We treat accessibility defects as real defects, not cosmetic ones.

Conformance status

Our target is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at Level AA. Clifford is currently partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 Level AA, and we are actively working toward full conformance.

"Partially conformant" means that some parts of the app do not yet fully meet the standard. We have completed the structural work that most affects assistive-technology users, and we have a remaining list of polish items, described under Known limitations below, that we are working through.

Measures we take

The following are built into the app today:

  • Keyboard operability. Interactive controls are reachable with the Tab key and operable without a mouse.
  • Focus management in dialogs. Modal dialogs trap focus while open and return focus to the control that opened them when they close.
  • Visible focus indicators. Keyboard focus is shown with a visible outline so you can always see where you are.
  • ARIA roles and labels. Icon-only buttons carry text labels for screen readers, and dialogs are announced with the correct role.
  • Semantic headings and landmarks. Pages use a single top-level heading followed by ordered section headings, so screen-reader users can navigate by structure.
  • Colour-token theming. Colours come from a shared token system rather than hardcoded values, which keeps text and interface contrast consistent across light and dark themes.
  • Skip link. A "skip to main content" link lets keyboard users bypass the header navigation and jump straight to the page content.

Known limitations

We want to be honest about where we are not done yet. The following work is in progress:

  • A full contrast audit across every theme is underway. Some less common interface states may not yet meet the 4.5:1 contrast target.
  • A reduced-motion pass is in progress. Some animations do not yet respond to the operating system "reduce motion" preference.
  • A complete screen-reader walkthrough of the deeper editor screens is still being carried out, so some dynamic updates in those screens may not yet be announced as clearly as we intend.

If you hit a barrier that is not listed here, please tell us. Real reports help us prioritise.

Feedback and contact

If you run into an accessibility barrier in Clifford, you can report it in two ways:

  • Use the in-app Feedback button, available on every screen once you are signed in.
  • Email us at [email protected].

We aim to respond within 5 business days. When you report a problem, telling us the page, what you were trying to do, and the assistive technology or browser you were using helps us reproduce and fix it faster.

Technical specifications

Clifford relies on the following technologies to work with the combination of your browser and any assistive technology you use:

  • HTML
  • CSS
  • JavaScript (the interface is built with React)

These technologies are relied upon for conformance with the WCAG 2.1 guidelines. The app requires a modern, up-to-date web browser with JavaScript enabled.

Preparation of this statement

This statement was prepared on 3 June 2026. It was last reviewed on 3 June 2026. We review it as the app changes and as we close out the limitations described above.