Our Commitment to Web Accessibility

The Cotuit Fire District is committed to providing a fully accessible website experience for all users of all abilities, including those who rely on assistive technologies like screen readers, screen enlargement software, and alternative keyboard input devices to navigate the web.

Ongoing Efforts to Ensure Accessibility

We follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1 as our guiding principle for determining accessibility. These are internationally agreed-upon standards that cover a wide range of recommendations and best practices for making content useable. As we add new pages and functionality to our website, all designs, code, and content entry practices are checked against these standards.

Website accessibility is an ongoing process. We continually test content and features for WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance and remediate any issues to ensure we meet or exceed the standards. Testing of our website is performed by our team members using industry-standard tools such as the Accessibility Checker WordPress Plugin, color contrast analyzers, keyboard-only navigation techniques, and Flesch-Kincaid readability tests.

Accessibility Features On Our Website

The following is a list of items we have included in our website to improve its accessibility:

• Responsive design — displays correctly on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices
• Text-based content — all current pages use selectable text, not images of text
• Descriptive link text — links identify their destination rather than using generic “click here” language
• Logical heading structure — pages use proper heading hierarchy to aid navigation
• Alt text — images include descriptive alternative text
• Designated archive section — historical documents are stored separately and clearly labeled
• Visible keyboard focus indicators — all interactive elements including links, buttons, navigation menus, and form fields display a visible outline when navigated by keyboard, ensuring users who cannot use a mouse can track their position on the page.

Where We’re Improving

In our efforts to bring our website up to standard, we are targeting the following areas:

• Historical documents in the archive section predate our compliance date and are retained for reference and recordkeeping; they may not meet current accessibility standards
• We are in the process of establishing accessible document templates for all new content published by the District
• Some older PDF documents linked from active pages are being audited and remediated on an ongoing basis

This is part of our broader effort to make everyone’s experience at the Cotuit Fire District a welcoming and enjoyable one. Please note that while we make every effort to provide information accessible for all users, we cannot guarantee the accessibility of third party websites to which we may link.

Accessibility Support Contact

We welcome comments, questions, and feedback on our website. If you are using assistive technologies and are having difficulty using our website, please email rouellette@cotuitfiredistrict.org or give us a call at 508-420-3000. We will do our best to assist you and resolve issues.