Accessibility

Our commitment

Maize Drones wants this website to be usable by as many people as possible, including people who navigate by keyboard, use a screen reader or magnifier, or have motion sensitivity. This page describes where we actually are today, including the parts that still need work. We would rather publish an honest account than a flattering one.

The standard we work to

We use the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA as our benchmark. To be precise about status: we have reviewed the site against that standard ourselves and fixed what we found, but we have not commissioned an independent accessibility audit and we do not claim full conformance. Where we fall short, it is listed below.

What is in place

• Semantic structure. Landmark regions (<nav>, <main>, <footer>), a single <h1> per page, a sensible heading order, and a page language declared on the <html> element.
• Skip link. Pressing Tab on any page reveals a “Skip to main content” link, so you do not have to tab through the navigation on every page.
• Visible keyboard focus. Every link, button, and control shows a high-contrast focus ring in the brand palette when reached by keyboard, switching to the lighter accent colour on dark green sections so it stays visible.
• Reduced motion. This site animates a lot, so this matters. If your operating system is set to reduce motion, the opening animation is replaced by a simple fade, scroll-tied animations are disabled in favour of static content, the horizontal card section becomes a plain stack, counters show their final numbers immediately, and decorative background motion stops.
• Text alternatives. Meaningful images carry descriptive alternative text, including the app screenshots, which are described in terms of the readings they show rather than as “screenshot”. Decorative artwork is hidden from screen readers, and the animated diagrams carry a text description of what they depict.
• Legal pages load immediately. This page, the privacy policy, and the terms of service skip the homepage intro animation entirely, so information you may need in a hurry is never behind a four-second animation.
• Zoom and reflow. The layout is responsive and remains usable when text is enlarged or the page is zoomed.

Known limitations

These are the gaps we know about and are working on:

• Some secondary text is below AA contrast. Muted captions and supporting lines are set at reduced opacity, and a few of them measure below the 4.5:1 ratio that WCAG requires for body text. Headings, body copy, and links all meet or exceed the requirement. We are correcting the muted styles.
• The homepage uses smooth and scroll-tied motion. The homepage overrides normal scrolling for a smoother feel and pins one section while it scrolls sideways. If you have reduced motion enabled, these are turned off. If you do not, the behaviour may still feel unusual with some assistive technologies.
• The homepage opens with an animation. It runs for roughly four seconds when you first arrive or reload the homepage, and there is currently no button to skip it, though it is replaced by a simple fade under reduced-motion settings. It does not replay when you move between pages or go back, and the other pages do not have it.
• No automated or independent testing yet. We do not currently run automated accessibility checks in our build, and no third party has audited the site. Both are on our list.

If any of this stops you getting to something you need, email us and we will send you the information in whatever format works for you.

Tell us about a barrier

If you hit an accessibility problem on this site, please email hello@maizedrones.com with the subject line “Accessibility feedback”. It helps if you can tell us the page, what you were trying to do, and what browser or assistive technology you were using, but please write to us either way. We aim to acknowledge within 2 business days and to give you a substantive answer within 10 business days. If a fix needs a code change, we will tell you when to expect it.

Where we stand legally

We would rather be accurate than impressive here. Canada’s main accessibility statutes do not currently impose website requirements on a company of our size and type:

• The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act requires WCAG Level AA conformance from public sector organisations and from private organisations with 50 or more employees in Ontario. We are below that threshold and are based in British Columbia.
• The Accessible British Columbia Act currently applies to public sector organisations rather than private companies.
• The Accessible Canada Act applies to federally regulated entities such as banks, telecommunications, and transportation.

We work to WCAG 2.1 AA anyway, because it is the standard those laws point to, because our customers should not have to care which statute applies to us, and because we expect to grow into these obligations. Separately, British Columbia’s Human Rights Code prohibits discrimination in the provision of services, which applies to us regardless of size.