Accessibility
We have adopted WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the bar we build to. We have not had an audit, so we do not claim conformance. Here is what we do, and what we know is not done.
Effective: 2026-08-24 · Last updated: 2026-09-23
The standard we build to
Pilebase has adopted the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, version 2.1, Level AA, as the internal standard for every page on this site. That is the bar we design and review against.
We are not claiming conformance. No independent audit has been carried out. A statement that claimed conformance without an audit behind it would be a claim we could not stand up, and this page would rather be useful than impressive.
What we actually do
This site is hand written HTML and CSS. There is no framework generating markup nobody has read. That is a deliberate choice and it is the main reason the following is true.
- Semantic markup. Headings are headings, buttons are buttons, lists are lists, and forms have real labels attached to real inputs.
- Every page is checked at 375 pixels wide. That is a standing rule with an automated check behind it, and it fails the build rather than being remembered.
- Status messages are announced. Where the page tells you something happened, that message sits in a live region so a screen reader says it.
- Text is real text. Prices, quantities and material names are text, not pictures of text.
- Every image carries alternative text, and an image without it stops the site build.
- Nothing depends on colour alone. Where colour carries meaning, a word carries it too.
- Searching needs JavaScript; reading a yard does not. The search on the front page, its map and the quantity calculator run in your browser and need JavaScript. Every yard's own page, with its published prices, address and phone number, reads without it, and so does the list of every yard by state at pilebase.io/yards/, which links to each of them.
- It works offline once you have opened a page, and on a slow connection, which matters more than it sounds: an accessible site that never finishes loading is not accessible.
- The spam trap on our forms is built to be safe for screen readers, rather than the usual hidden field that traps the people it should not.
What we know is not there yet
Saying this is the point of the page.
- No independent audit has been run, so there will be problems we do not know about.
- No formal testing with screen readers across browsers has been done. We have tested, but not systematically enough to call it testing.
- Colour contrast has not been measured page by page. It was designed for, not measured.
- Keyboard focus order on the more complex pages, the comparison view and the calculator, has not been walked through end to end.
- The voice ordering feature depends on your browser's speech service, which is outside our control, and it is an addition to typing rather than a replacement for it. You can always type.
Tell us about a barrier
If any part of this site is hard or impossible for you to use, email info@pilebase.io and say what happened. You do not need to know why it happened or what the standard says.
What you can expect: a reply from a person within two business days, and, where we can fix it, a fix rather than an explanation. If we cannot fix it quickly, we will tell you what we are doing instead and how to get what you needed in the meantime.
And if you just need the information, call or email and we will look it up for you and tell you. Every business on this site has a phone number, and so do we.
Contact
Email info@pilebase.io.