Accessibility statement

Many people who come to Claims Answer Man are stressed, tired and reading on a small screen. Some use a screen reader, screen magnification, captions, voice control or only a keyboard. Some are reading in a second language or with a headache after a long day at a damaged house. We want every one of them to find the answer they need without struggling with the website.

Our goal is for the website and the course to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at Level AA.

WCAG is the international standard for accessible websites, published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Level AA is the level most organizations aim for. In short, it asks that a website be:

• Perceivable: you can see or hear the content, for example through text alternatives for images and captions for video.
• Operable: you can use it with a mouse, a touch screen, a keyboard or voice.
• Understandable: the words and the layout make sense and behave in predictable ways.
• Robust: it works with browsers and assistive technology, now and as they change.

Version 2.2, published in October 2023, added checks that matter a lot on phones and for tired eyes: buttons and links big enough to tap (at least 24 by 24 pixels, or spaced apart), keyboard focus that is never completely covered by other content, help options that stay in the same place from page to page, and sign-ins that do not depend on memory puzzles.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s guidance on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) points to WCAG as a helpful standard for making websites usable by people with disabilities. We use it because it is the clearest checklist available.

• Large, readable text. Body text starts at 18 pixels, with generous line spacing.
• Strong contrast. Our colors are chosen to meet at least the 4.5 to 1 contrast ratio WCAG asks for in body text.
• Big buttons. Buttons and menu items aim for a 48 pixel tap area, twice the 24 pixel minimum in WCAG 2.2.
• Keyboard access. Every menu, link and form works with a keyboard. A “Skip to main content” link is the first thing you reach, menus open with Enter or Space and close with Escape, and a clear outline shows where you are.
• Clear structure. Each page has one main heading and a logical order of section headings, so screen reader users can jump straight to the part they need.
• Clear writing. We write at about an 8th-grade reading level and explain insurance terms the first time we use them. Our insurance claim glossary defines the rest.
• Forms with real labels. Every field has a visible label, any field you can skip is marked (optional), and error messages are written in words, not shown only by color.
• Calm motion. Nothing flashes, nothing plays sound on its own, and if your device asks for reduced motion, the site respects it.
• Phone first. Pages are designed for a small screen first and reflow when you zoom in, without sideways scrolling.
• Text you can read on the page. The free claim checklist is shown in full on its web page, not only inside a download.

The online course is still being built. Before it opens, we plan to:

• provide reviewed captions for every lesson video;
• offer a text transcript for each lesson;
• choose a video player that works with a keyboard and with screen readers;
• make downloadable worksheets readable by screen readers, with a plain text version where a form is complex; and
• keep sign-in simple, with password managers allowed and password reset by email.

We will update this page with what is in place when the course launches. You can read more about how the course works in the meantime.

We would rather tell you about gaps than pretend they do not exist.

• No independent audit yet. The site is new. We test our own pages, but an outside accessibility audit has not been done yet.
• Third-party tools. The course video player and the checkout page will come from outside providers. We pick providers with accessibility in mind, but we do not control every part of their design.
• Downloads. The checklist PDF is still being finished, and a PDF may not be fully readable by every screen reader at first. The key content is also on the web page, and we will send a plain text version on request.
• Other websites. We link to government and consumer websites we do not control. Their accessibility may differ from ours.
• Contact options. Our contact form is the only way to reach us online for now. Choosing its Accessibility topic marks your message as an accessibility report. We are adding a second way to reach us and will list it here. Until then, a family member or friend is welcome to send the form for you.

The site is built with standard HTML, so it is designed to work with current versions of Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge, on phones, tablets and computers. It is also designed to work with common screen readers, such as VoiceOver on iPhone and Mac, TalkBack on Android, and NVDA or JAWS on Windows. Our forms still work if JavaScript is turned off.

If something on the site is hard or impossible for you to use, please tell us. You do not need to know the technical cause.

1. Open our contact form and choose Accessibility as the topic.
2. Tell us the page address or the page title.
3. Describe what you were trying to do and what happened.
4. If you can, mention your device, browser and any assistive technology you use.
5. Tell us how you would like us to reply, and in what format.

If someone helps you with your claim, such as a family member, they are welcome to send the message for you.

• Within two business days: we reply to confirm we have your message.
• Within ten business days: we aim to fix the problem, or to give you the same information in a way that works for you, such as a plain text version by email.
• For bigger fixes: if a fix depends on an outside provider or needs more time, we tell you what we are doing and when we expect it to be done.

Every report helps the next homeowner, so thank you for taking the time.

• Make text bigger: on a computer, hold Ctrl (Command on a Mac) and press the plus key. On a phone, pinch to zoom, or raise the text size in your phone’s display or accessibility settings.
• Have pages read aloud: iPhones offer Speak Screen, and Android phones offer Select to Speak, both in the accessibility settings.
• Use reader view: many browsers have a reader button that shows only the main text in a larger, simpler layout.
• Print a page: our guides print cleanly if you prefer to read on paper or share them with someone helping you.

We check new pages against our accessibility checklist before they go live, fix problems as they are reported, and review this statement at least once a year. The date at the top of this page shows when it last changed. For the other rules that apply to the site, see our Terms of Use.