Every person deserves access to the riches of the Catholic faith. This is not a courtesy. It is a conviction.
Last reviewed: March 28, 2026
Sacred Trek is committed to being usable by every person who visits, including those who use screen readers, keyboard navigation, magnification software, or other assistive technologies. Where we fall short, we want to know — and we will address it.
The Catholic Church teaches that every human being is made in the image and likeness of God — imago Dei — and that this dignity is unconditional and inalienable. It does not diminish with age, illness, disability, or any other circumstance. The Catechism states plainly: "The human person, made in the image of God, is a being at once corporeal and spiritual" (CCC 362), and that the Church must be a home for all.
A website that cannot be used by a person with a visual impairment, a motor disability, or a cognitive difference is not fully living that principle. Sacred Trek is a ministry site. Its content — prayer, the sacraments, Scripture, the lives of the saints — belongs to every Catholic, and to every person drawn toward the faith. We take seriously the responsibility to make it reachable.
Every page is built with proper HTML5 structural elements — <nav>, <main>, <section>, <article>, <aside>, <footer>, and heading hierarchies (h1 through h4) in correct order. Screen readers and assistive technologies rely on this structure to navigate the page.
Interactive elements that cannot be fully described by their visible text carry aria-label, aria-controls, aria-expanded, and role attributes. Tab panels, accordions, and navigation menus announce their state to assistive technologies. The navigation hamburger button is labelled "Open navigation menu."
The site is fully navigable by keyboard. The main navigation, tab panels (on the Sacramental Prep page, the Mass Propers page, and others), FAQ accordions, and all interactive controls respond to Tab, Enter, Space, and arrow keys. No content is accessible only by mouse or touch.
Keyboard focus is visible on all interactive elements. We have not suppressed the browser's default focus outline, and in many places have enhanced it with additional styling to ensure it is clearly visible against the site's dark and light backgrounds.
The site's base font size is set to 20 pixels — larger than most websites. All text sizes are defined in relative units (rem and em) so that they scale correctly when a user increases their browser's default font size or uses browser zoom. Increasing your browser's text size will increase all text on this site proportionally.
The primary text colours (dark navy on ivory, and near-white on navy) are chosen to meet WCAG AA contrast requirements. Gold accent text on dark backgrounds meets contrast requirements at its primary usage sizes. We are aware that some decorative elements use lower-contrast gold tones and are reviewing these.
The rose window SVG animations that appear on several pages are purely decorative and carry aria-hidden="true" so they are not announced to screen reader users. No content is conveyed through images alone without a text equivalent.
Sacred Trek has been reviewed for compatibility with VoiceOver (macOS and iOS) and is designed to be compatible with JAWS, NVDA, and TalkBack. The site uses standard HTML elements and does not rely on custom JavaScript widgets that bypass assistive technology conventions.
The rose window animations and scroll-reveal effects are decorative. The site respects the prefers-reduced-motion media query — users who have enabled reduced motion in their operating system will not see animated elements that could cause discomfort.
Links are written to be descriptive in context. External links to other websites are identified as such. Where a link opens in a new tab, this is consistent and predictable. We avoid the use of "click here" and similar non-descriptive link text.
We are honest about where the site is not yet where we want it to be.
The liturgical calendar, the fasting date calculator, and the Mass Propers tab panels are complex JavaScript-driven components. While we have applied ARIA roles and keyboard support, detailed testing with screen readers across all components and all browsers is an ongoing process.
Several decorative uses of the gold accent colour (#B8963E) against light backgrounds do not meet WCAG AA contrast ratios. These are being reviewed. All body text and primary link text meet AA requirements.
The site has been reviewed primarily on desktop assistive technologies. Mobile screen reader testing (VoiceOver on iOS, TalkBack on Android) is ongoing.
We do not list these limitations to excuse them. We list them because honesty serves you better than the appearance of perfection.
If you encounter any barrier to using Sacred Trek — a page that does not work with your screen reader, a control you cannot reach by keyboard, text you cannot read comfortably, or anything else — please tell us. We will take it seriously and address it.
We aim to respond to accessibility reports within five business days.
Sacred Trek aims to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA. These guidelines, published by the W3C, provide the widely accepted international standard for web accessibility. Where we are not yet in conformance, we are working toward it.
Conformance with WCAG 2.1 AA is our floor, not our ceiling. Our goal is a site that genuinely serves every person who comes to it, not merely one that passes an automated audit.
Sacred Trek is a ministry of welcome. The same God who made the blind man see and the deaf man hear calls this site to be genuinely open to every person who arrives at its door. We take that seriously.
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