Our Commitment to Digital Accessibility
TradeBlock was designed with readers as diverse as the novice trader reading their very first guide to cryptocurrency wallets and the experienced investor quickly checking ticker prices. That diversity only matters if each and every one of those readers can access our content. We strive to make TradeBlock compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the global standard for web content accessibility created through the W3C. We keep up with changes to the standards and make accessibility a continuous part of our page designs and content structure.
The WCAG Principles We Follow
WCAG has four principles, which can be easily remembered by the acronym POUR. Each principle informs how we approach content and design decisions.
Perceivable
Information must be presented in ways that people can perceive. That means making sure it doesn’t require the use of any one sense. We add descriptive alternative text to charts, icons, and images. We use clear headings so screen readers can navigate a page logically. We also ensure strong color contrast so price tables, fee breakdowns, and comparison data are legible.
Operable
All interactive elements should be easily operable. Links, navigation, menus, and other user interface components are keyboard-accessible and don’t require a mouse or hover interaction based on specific gestures. No time limits are included that would affect the ability to read and use content.
Understandable
Crypto is jargon-heavy, we know. That’s why we define terms when needed, keep pages consistently organized, and break up long guides into easily digestible sections. Consistent formatting and cleanup benefit all of our users but are particularly important for users of assistive technology.
Robust
Content must remain accessible through browsers, screen readers, and devices. We use clean markup based on standards to ensure assistive technologies will be able to access our pages both now and in the future.
WCAG Conformance Levels
WCAG conformance is defined at three levels. They offer a way to objectively measure how well a website meets accessibility standards, which we apply to our own projects.
| Conformance Level | Description |
|---|---|
| Level A | Basic compliance. At this level everything your website needs to function can be accessed with a keyboard, all your images and other non-text content have text alternatives and your pages work with assistive technology. |
| Level AA | The accessibility level most organizations should be striving for. This is our default target. Requires stronger color-contrast requirements (normally at least 4.5:1 for normal text), logical and predictable navigation, and content that scales well to different screen sizes. |
| Level AAA | Requirements for this level are the most stringent in terms of contrast, the widest in terms of resizable content and the most comprehensive in terms of design requirements. We view AAA as a goal and attempt to meet AAA standards when feasible. |
Accessibility in a Crypto Context
Crypto and finance content has one responsibility in particular. Tables of fees, exchange comparisons, live pricing and security walkthroughs are exactly the type of content where leaving out a single piece of information can literally cost a reader money.
That’s why we take extra care with how pages that contain lots of data are built: ensuring tables work with screen readers, interactive crypto tools can be used without a mouse, and that critical info is never conveyed by color alone. Just like the standard we apply to our reviews, that our readers deserve the full story, we apply it to how the message is delivered.
Ongoing Commitment
Accessibility isn’t a destination. As we release new crypto guides, tools are added, and we expand coverage to include more exchanges, wallets, and market data feeds, we revisit and tweak how those features work for everyone. This is how we operate at TradeBlock: it’s our standard to uphold every day, not a box to check.
Help Us Improve
Achieving and maintaining a high degree of accessibility is a team effort. Reader feedback is one of our greatest tools. If you utilize assistive technology or have experienced any problems while using the TradeBlock website, please let us know. That feedback will lead us straight to the problems so we can improve for all.
Contact Us
Got feedback? Found an accessibility issue? Let us know how we can do better by filling out our contact form. We read every message and your feedback helps keep TradeBlock open and accessible to everyone in the crypto community.