Accessibility Statement

We aim to conform with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at Level AA. Accessibility is a continuing process rather than a one-time checkpoint, and we treat reported issues as bugs to fix on the same priority as any other defect that affects how people use the service.

This statement applies to the Gather Tickets website hosted at www.gathertickets.co.uk and the ticket-purchase emails we send through it. Third-party content embedded on the site (for example, Stripe’s checkout flow) is governed by those providers’ own accessibility statements; we link to them where relevant.

Decisions we have made to support accessibility include:

• Skip to content.A “Skip to main content” link is the first focusable element on every page so keyboard users can bypass the navigation.
• Semantic HTML and landmarks. Pages use semantic elements (main, header, nav, section, article) and the document declares its language at the root.
• Keyboard support. Interactive elements are reachable and operable using a keyboard alone. We render a visible focus ring on every interactive element using :focus-visible.
• Mobile navigation. The primary navigation collapses into a hamburger menu on small screens, with aria-expanded / aria-controls wiring, Escape-to-close, and focus management.
• Reduced motion. Hover transforms and decorative transitions are gated behind prefers-reduced-motion: no-preference so users who prefer reduced motion do not see them.
• Colour contrast. Body text targets a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background, and larger text targets at least 3:1.
• Forms. Form fields have associated labels, radio groups are wrapped in fieldset/legend, and submitting state is exposed via aria-busy. Errors announce on appearance via role=“alert”; successes via role=“status”.
• Dialogs. Modal dialogs trap focus, close on Escape, return focus to the triggering element on close, and lock background scroll while open.
• Images. Meaningful images have descriptive alternative text; decorative images and icon emoji are marked as such with aria-hidden.
• Plain language. We aim for clear, plain English in interface copy and confirmation emails.

We have not yet completed a full WCAG 2.2 Level AA audit of the site. The following items are currently outstanding:

• Automated testing in CI. We have not yet wired axe-core or an equivalent rule set into our build, so changes are verified by manual keyboard walk-through. Adding automated checks is on our backlog.
• Screen-reader testing. The current build has not been tested end-to-end with VoiceOver, NVDA, or TalkBack. We will run a screen-reader pass before our next public review and list findings here.
• Organiser-facing tools. The dashboard, admin, attendee list, and event check-in pages have received pattern-level accessibility fixes (forms, modals, focus visibility) but have not been individually audited. Most users of the site never reach these pages; organisers who do can contact us using the address below.
• Stripe-hosted checkout. Once you proceed to payment, you are on Stripe’s checkout page, which is governed by Stripe’s own accessibility statement.

As of 2026-05-04, no other issues have been reported to us. If you find something that does not work for you, please tell us using the contact below — we treat accessibility reports as high-priority bugs.

If you have an accessibility question or want to report a problem with how the site works for you, email support@gathertickets.co.uk. Please include the page you were on, what you were trying to do, and what assistive technology (if any) you were using. We aim to respond within 5 working days.

If we cannot fix the problem straight away, we will tell you what we are doing about it and offer an alternative way to complete what you came to do (for example, completing a purchase by email).

If you contact us about an accessibility issue and you are not happy with how we respond, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) for advice. The Equality Act 2010 requires us to make reasonable adjustments to ensure people are not put at a substantial disadvantage when using our service.

Gather Tickets is a Next.js application served as server-rendered HTML with progressive enhancement. The site should function with JavaScript disabled for read-only browsing of events; account-related actions and ticket purchase require JavaScript.

We test against current versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari (including iOS Safari and macOS VoiceOver), and the latest Edge. Where automated tooling is used, it is one of axe-core or Lighthouse; we treat automated results as a floor, not a ceiling, and rely on real-user feedback for the rest.

This statement was prepared on 2026-05-04 and last reviewed on 2026-05-04. It is reviewed at least annually and whenever we make a substantial change to the site.