Accessibility

Our Commitment to Accessibility

Accessibility Statement

ZIMMERMANN is committed to making this website's content accessible and user friendly to everyone. If you are having difficulty viewing or navigating the content on this website, or notice any content, feature, or functionality that you believe is not fully accessible to people with disabilities, call our Client Services team at +61 1800 738 895 or emailing our team at accessibility@zimmermann.com with "Disabled Access" in the subject line and provide a description of the specific feature you feel is not fully accessible or a suggestion for improvement. Your feedback is important and will consider it as we evaluate ways to accommodate all of our clients and our overall accessibility policies. Additionally, while we do not control such vendors, we strongly encourage vendors of third-party digital content to provide content that is accessible and user friendly.

This website utilises various technologies that to make it as accessible as possible at all times. Including an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website's user interface (UI) and design it to their personal needs. This interface is accessed via the website Footer, by clicking on the 'Accessibility' link.

Additionally, the website utilises an AI-based application that optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website's HTML, adapts its functionality and behaviour for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.

The Website's Accessibility Features Include:

Screen-reader and keyboard navigation

This website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioural changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website's functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters our site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate our site effectively.

Details on how this website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements are listed below:
Screen-reader optimisation: there is a background process that learns the website's components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing accessibility compliance even when updating the website. In this process, screen-readers are provided with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others.

Additionally, the background process scans all of the website's images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn on the Screen-reader mode as soon as they enter our website.

These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA. 

Keyboard navigation optimisation: the background process also adjusts the website's HTML, and adds various behaviours using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc key, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.

Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside of it.

Users can also use shortcuts such as "M" (menus), "H" (headings), "F" (forms), "B" (buttons), and "G" (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

Disability profiles supported in the website:

Epilepsy Safe Profile: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky colour combinations.

Visually Impaired Profile: this profile adjusts the website so that it is accessible to the majority of visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.

Cognitive Disability Profile: this profile provides various assistive features to help users with cognitive disabilities such as Autism, Dyslexia, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements more easily.

ADHD Friendly Profile: this profile significantly reduces distractions and noise, to help people with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders browse, read, and focus on the essential elements more easily.

Blind Users Profile (Screen-readers): this profile adjusts the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is installed on the blind user's computer, and this site is compatible with it.

Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as "M" (menus), "H" (headings), "F" (forms), "B" (buttons), and "G" (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments:

Font adjustments - users can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.

Colour adjustments - users can select various colour contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap colour schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over 7 different colouring options.

Animations - epileptic users can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.

Content highlighting - users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.

Audio muting - users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.

Cognitive disorders - users can utilise a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.

Additional functions - users have the option to change cursor colour and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.

Browser and assistive technology compatibility and optimal experience:

The website supports a wide range of browsers and assistive technologies, allowing website visitors to choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. It supports all major systems including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and for MAC users. 

While we strive to ensure the website functions in an accessible way with the most recent versions of browsers and assistive technologies, as these technologies are subject to changes, the website's performance may be affected. Any adblocker or browser plugin that allows users to disable JavaScript on pages may inhibit the technologies we have put in place to provide accessibility for our users. We recommend you ensure JavaScript is enabled for an optimal accessibility experience. We conduct regular testing to ensure the website's proper functioning with our accessibility features and technologies. Should you experience any difficulties please contact us so we can continue to improve the experience on the website, either by calling our Client Service team at +61 1800 738 895 or emailing our team at accessibility@zimmermann.com