Accessibility Statement

Our Commitment

The Journal of Holistic Health and Well-Being (JHHWB), published by the Baba Kinaram Research Foundation, is committed to ensuring that this portal is accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. We aim to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at Level AA. Accessibility is treated as an ongoing obligation, not a one-time effort.

Conformance Status

This portal is partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Partial conformance means that some content or features may not yet fully meet all criteria. We are actively working to address known gaps.

Known limitations

• PDF documents — some older PDFs linked from the templates section may not be fully tagged for screen readers. Remediated versions will be published as files are updated.
• Third-party payment widgets — the payment interface is provided by a third-party processor and may have limitations beyond our direct control. We work with our processors to improve accessibility.
• Mathematical notation — equations in published articles are rendered as MathML where possible; legacy content may use image-based rendering with alt text.

Technical Specifications

This website relies on the following technologies to conform to WCAG 2.1:

• HTML5 with semantic landmark elements (main, nav, header, footer, aside)
• ARIA attributes where native semantics are insufficient
• CSS (TailwindCSS) — no content is conveyed by CSS alone
• JavaScript (SvelteKit) — all primary functionality works without JavaScript where the technology allows

Keyboard Navigation

All interactive elements — navigation links, form controls, buttons, modal dialogs, and data tables — are reachable and operable using keyboard alone:

• Tab / Shift+Tab — move forward and backward through focusable elements.
• Enter / Space — activate buttons and links.
• Arrow keys — navigate within menus, radio groups, and tab panels.
• Escape — close dialogs and menus.
• A visible Skip to content link appears on focus at the top of every page, allowing keyboard users to bypass the navigation menu.

All interactive elements display a clearly visible focus indicator (a coloured ring) when focused via keyboard.

Visual Design

• All text and interactive elements meet WCAG 2.1 colour contrast requirements (minimum 4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text).
• The interface scales gracefully up to 400% zoom in a modern browser without loss of content or functionality.
• Information is never conveyed by colour alone; icons and labels are used in combination.
• Animation and motion effects respect the prefers-reduced-motion media query — users who prefer reduced motion will see a simplified interface.

Screen Reader Support

This portal has been tested with the following screen reader and browser combinations:

• NVDA + Chrome (Windows)
• JAWS + Edge (Windows)
• VoiceOver + Safari (macOS and iOS)
• TalkBack + Chrome (Android)

We aim to test with each browser-reader combination after major feature releases. Results are used to prioritise remediation work.

Assistive Technology

This portal is compatible with:

• Screen readers (see above)
• Screen magnification software (ZoomText, macOS Zoom)
• Speech recognition software (Dragon NaturallySpeaking)
• Browser high-contrast and forced-colours modes
• Keyboard-only navigation

Reporting an Accessibility Issue

We welcome feedback on the accessibility of this portal. If you encounter a barrier that prevents you from accessing any part of the journal, please contact us:

• Contact form: jhhwb.pages.dev/contact

We have not listed an accessibility@ email address because the journal's own mail domain is not yet in service and any such address would silently discard your report. The contact form is the only channel we monitor. If the form itself is the barrier you are trying to report, the editorial contacts listed on the Contact page are reachable directly at their institutional addresses.

Please include:

• The URL of the page or feature you were trying to use.
• A description of the problem and any error messages you received.
• The assistive technology you use (if any), including version.
• Your operating system and browser version.

We aim to acknowledge accessibility reports within 5 business days and to provide a response or proposed fix within 20 business days.

Enforcement Procedure

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the relevant national accessibility authority in your jurisdiction. In the European Union this is typically the relevant national supervisory authority; in the United Kingdom it is the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Ongoing Improvement

We conduct accessibility audits using a combination of automated scanning (axe-core, Lighthouse) and manual testing at least once per quarter, and after major releases. Audit findings and remediation progress are tracked internally. This statement will be updated whenever material changes are made to the portal.

Formal Complaints

If you wish to raise a formal accessibility complaint, address it to the Editor-in-Chief, JHHWB (Baba Kinaram Research Foundation) using the contact form, with a subject beginning "Accessibility complaint". The Editor-in-Chief's institutional email address is published on the Contact page.