We want everyone to be able to use IdeaScore, including people who use a keyboard, a screen reader, zoom or other assistive technology. This statement says how accessible IdeaScore is today, how we checked, and what we still have to fix.
We keep this statement current. It describes IdeaScore as it is today, and we update it each time we fix a gap or check a new part of the app. If something stops you from finishing a task, tell us and we will help you complete it.
What This Statement Covers
- The IdeaScore app: the pages organisations, evaluators and applicants use after signing in.
- The public pages: sign-in, application forms, event pages, results, voting and the Legal, Trust and Privacy pages.
- It does not cover documents that applicants or organisations upload, such as pitch decks, or the PDF files IdeaScore creates. We have not checked those PDF files yet.
Conformance Status
Standard: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA.
- IdeaScore partly conforms to WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Partly conforms means that some parts of the content do not yet fully meet the standard.
- This is a self-assessment by IdeaScore. No outside body has assessed it.
- We have not assessed IdeaScore against WCAG 2.2.
- Our Accessibility Conformance Report sets out every WCAG 2.1 Level A and AA criterion one by one, with our level and the reason.
How We Checked
- An automated check (axe) of the main pages in each release, in light and dark mode, at 1280 and 390 pixels wide. It finds no issue it rates serious or critical on the pages we scan.
- A keyboard walk of five journeys on 29 October 2026: signing in, applying, scoring, reviewing applications as staff, and the public event and results pages. Every stop showed a focus ring, and no page or dialog trapped the keyboard.
- A check that animation stops or reduces when the device asks for less motion, on nine pages.
- A script that opens pages at 100, 150 and 200 percent zoom on a phone and a large screen.
- We have not yet tested IdeaScore with a screen reader, and disabled users have not tested it.
Known Gaps
These parts do not yet meet the standard, or have not been checked. We are working on them.
- Screen readers: no manual pass with a screen reader (such as NVDA) has been done yet.
- Charts have no text summary yet.
- Zoom: at 200 percent, some pages still scroll sideways or let labels overlap, including some conference pages.
- Form errors: when a field on the sign-in or application form is wrong, the message is announced, but it is not linked to the field.
- Required fields on application forms are marked in the label text only, not in a way assistive technology reads as required.
- The notes field on the scoring page is named only by its placeholder text.
- The sign-in page's slides on large screens make each slide button a separate Tab stop.
- Long tables, such as the list of applications, have several Tab stops on each row and no way to jump past the table.
- Some sheets and the navigation drawer on phones keep the keyboard inside them, but do not tell assistive technology that they are modal.
- Counters and other animation driven by scripts have not been checked against the reduced-motion setting.
- The automated check also reports some moderate and minor issues, such as heading order and page regions, that we have not fixed yet.
- The short silent clips on the What's new page play while they are on screen and have no pause button. They do not play when your device asks for less motion.
- Fields on application forms that collect personal details, such as name, email and phone, do not yet tell the browser what they collect, so it cannot fill them in.
Feedback and Contact
- If something in IdeaScore is hard to use, or you need information in another format, email [email protected]. Please tell us the page, what you were trying to do, and the device and assistive technology you use.
- We aim to reply within 5 business days.
- If you apply to a programme run on IdeaScore and need help with its form, you can also contact the organisation that runs the programme.
Review of This Statement
- We review this statement with each major release and at least twice a year.
- It was last reviewed on 2 November 2026.