Accessibility Statement
Our commitment to WCAG 2.2 AA, what works today, what doesn't yet, and how to tell us about a barrier.
In plain English
- We aim for WCAG 2.2 Level AA across the site and app.
- Keyboard navigation, screen-reader labels, colour contrast, reduced motion and dark/light themes are built in.
- Some things are still hard: the logic-gates canvas, the animated CPU diagram, some diagrams, exported PDFs and third-party PDFs.
- Hit a barrier? Tell us and we'll fix it or give you the content another way.
The summary helps you read the document; the full text below is what applies.
1. Commitment
CS with ZAK wants every student to be able to use it, whatever their abilities or devices. We aim to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at Level AA, and we treat accessibility as part of quality, not an add-on.
2. What we have done
- Semantic HTML with a single main landmark, a “Skip to content” link, breadcrumbs and consistent navigation.
- Full keyboard operability: every link, button, tab, menu and tool control can be reached and used with the keyboard; visible focus rings; the command palette (Ctrl/⌘ K) for fast navigation.
- Descriptive labels and names for controls; icons that carry meaning have text alternatives; decorative icons are hidden from assistive technology.
- Colour is never the only carrier of meaning (correct/incorrect answers also use icons and text); text contrast meets 4.5:1 in both light and dark themes; the theme follows your system setting and can be switched.
- Respect for
prefers-reduced-motion: animations are disabled when you ask your OS to reduce motion. - Text scales with browser zoom up to 200% without loss of content; layouts reflow for narrow screens; touch targets are at least 24×24 CSS px.
- Fonts are legible, line lengths are bounded, and the pseudocode, Python, SQL, assembly and Prolog editors are plain text areas with a monospaced font and syntax highlighting that does not rely on colour alone.
- Smart Notes and assignments are ordinary headed text on the page (a chapter rail lists every section), can be printed, and can be downloaded as PDF or as an editable slide deck to read in your own software; assignment answers are typed into standard text areas.
- Video lectures open in a dialog that traps focus and closes with Escape; YouTube's own player controls and caption toggle apply inside it. The page-overview video windows play in place: the play control is a labelled button, nothing plays until you press it, and YouTube's auto-captions are available in the player.
- Infographics are inline SVG with an accessible name, and can be exported at 2× and 4× scale for magnification.
- Quizzes, flashcards and AskZ work with screen readers; streaming AskZ answers are announced when complete.
- We test with keyboard-only navigation, VoiceOver (macOS/iOS), NVDA (Windows), browser zoom and Lighthouse/axe automated checks.
3. Known limitations
- Logic Gates Lab: the drag-and-drop circuit canvas is not fully operable by keyboard or screen reader. The generated truth table is an accessible HTML table, and every example circuit can be loaded from the example browser (keyboard-accessible).
- Trace tables and the code editors: editing uses a textarea and is accessible, but syntax highlighting is visual only; run output, trace tables, SQL results and the assembler's register/memory views are HTML tables. The animated fetch–decode–execute diagram in the Assembler lab is decorative and pauses under reduced motion; the same information is in the tables beside it. The ER diagram in the SQL Lab is an SVG with an accessible name; the schema is also listed as text.
- Exported files: PDFs generated in the browser are not yet tagged for screen readers — the on-page version of the same notes or assignment is the accessible one, and the slide export is plain text and editable.
- Infographics: SVG diagrams carry an accessible name and the key terms are repeated in the page text, but not every visual relationship in a diagram is described in prose yet. Ask AskZ to “explain the diagram on this page” or [email us](mailto:contact@cswithzak.com) for a text description.
- Third-party content: past-paper PDFs (PapaCambridge), syllabus PDFs (Cambridge), YouTube videos and Blogger posts are outside our control; many Cambridge PDFs are not tagged for screen readers. Auto-captions on YouTube videos may be inaccurate.
- Language: the site is in English (UK); Urdu is used in class but not yet on the site.
4. Feedback and alternative formats
If you cannot access something, or find a barrier, tell us: [contact@cswithzak.com](mailto:contact@cswithzak.com) (subject “Accessibility”), WhatsApp +92-3-111-222-ZAK, or ask AskZ to pass on an accessibility issue. Tell us the page, what you were trying to do, and your browser/assistive technology. We aim to respond within 5 working days and to fix genuine barriers within 30 days, or to provide the content in another format (plain text, large print, a spoken explanation) in the meantime.
5. Standard and review
Target standard: WCAG 2.2 AA (W3C Recommendation, October 2023). This statement is reviewed each time a new tool ships and at least once per academic session. Last review: 2026-09-20 (Smart Notes, assignments, the video library and the Python, SQL, assembler and Prolog labs).