Usable in the hardest week.
Grief and remembering are not interruptions to our product; they are the product. The people this site exists for include elders, the newly bereaved, the exhausted, and people using screen readers, magnification, or a keyboard alone. Accessibility is part of our identity, not a compliance checkbox.
We build to WCAG 2.1 Level AA: semantic structure and landmarks, full keyboard operability, visible focus, color contrast checked against our brand palette (and the palette adjusted when it loses), text alternatives for meaningful images, captions and transcripts for audio and video memories, and forms with real labels and clear errors.
We test with automated checks in our development pipeline and by hand — keyboard-only passes and screen-reader passes on the flows that matter most: reading an archive, adding a memory, and reaching help in a hard week.
Conformance target: WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
Large type, everywhere
Turn on Large type in your account settings and the whole workspace reads bigger — memories, letters, forms. On a public Life Page, the quiet “Aa” button in the top corner does the same for visitors: a grandmother reading at midnight doesn't need an account, or anyone's help, to make the words comfortable. Both are remembered for next time.
A full keyboard path
Every page starts with a “Skip to content” link, every interactive element shows a visible focus ring, and the flows that matter — reading an archive, adding a memory, reaching help — work start to finish without a mouse. If you live on the Tab key, this site was built with you in the room.
Transcripts on everything with a voice
Audio and video memories are transcribed automatically (on our own servers — recordings never leave DearestEllie for transcription), so a story told aloud can also be read. Scanned letters and documents get the same treatment through text recognition. A voice memory from 1987 shouldn't be locked away from a family member who can't hear it.
Motion that respects you
If your device asks for reduced motion, we honor it: fades, slides, and smooth scrolling all step aside, and nothing ever hides content behind an animation that didn't run.
Tested like we mean it
An automated accessibility sweep (axe) gates every deployment across the public site — contrast, labels, landmarks, structure — alongside pixel-level visual regression tests and by-hand keyboard and screen-reader passes on the flows families actually use.
Known limitations
An accessibility statement that lists no limitations is describing a website that doesn't exist. Ours, currently:
- Family-uploaded photographs and scans arrive without descriptions; we prompt for captions and provide transcription for audio and video, but historical family media may remain partially described.
- Printable PDFs are designed for print first; we provide the same content as accessible web pages wherever a printable exists.
Tell us what's hard
If any part of DearestEllie is hard for you to use, we want to know and we will fix what we can quickly — write to us through the help page and mention accessibility so it reaches the right person first. The help page is the fastest route. A reported barrier is treated as a bug in the thing we exist to do, not a feature request.