Legal
Accessibility Statement
Last updated: June 2025
Our Commitment
ElevateIP Delivery Partners are committed to providing a digital environment that is accessible, inclusive, and equitable for every founder, partner, and stakeholder who engages with the national portal, regardless of ability, assistive technology, or device.
We recognize that accessibility is not a feature — it is a fundamental requirement of a public-facing national program. Our goal is to ensure that all users, including those who rely on screen readers, keyboard navigation, or other assistive technologies, can access the full breadth of information and tools available through this portal.
Conformance Standard
The ElevateIP National Portal targets conformance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA, published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). These guidelines define how to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities and form the foundation of accessibility legislation across Canada and internationally.
Where full conformance has not yet been achieved, we are actively working to remediate known gaps in accordance with our ongoing accessibility roadmap.
Implemented Accessibility Features
The following measures have been implemented across the portal to support WCAG 2.1 Level AA conformance:
High-Contrast Typography
All body text and interactive elements are rendered against backgrounds with sufficient colour contrast ratios. Primary text uses our deep plum palette against a white background, meeting or exceeding the 4.5:1 contrast ratio required at Level AA.
Semantic HTML Structure
The portal is built using semantic landmark elements — <header>, <main>, <nav>, <section>, <footer>, and <aside> — enabling screen readers to accurately communicate the page hierarchy and allow users to navigate directly to content regions of interest.
Keyboard-Navigable Components
All interactive components, including the province and territory selection dropdown, navigation menus, search inputs, and call-to-action buttons, are fully operable using keyboard controls alone. Focus states are visually distinct and compliant with WCAG 2.4.7.
Descriptive Link Text & ARIA Labels
Links and icon-only buttons include descriptive accessible names or ARIA labels, ensuring that users navigating via screen readers receive meaningful context without relying on visual cues.
Responsive & Scalable Layout
The portal layout is fully responsive and supports text scaling up to 200% without loss of content or functionality, in accordance with WCAG 1.4.4.
Language Declaration
The HTML lang attribute is programmatically set to reflect the active language (English or French), enabling assistive technologies to apply the correct pronunciation and linguistic rules.
Known Limitations
While we strive for full conformance, some third-party content integrated into the portal — including external links, embedded media, and partner-submitted resources — may not meet all WCAG 2.1 Level AA criteria. We are not responsible for the accessibility of content hosted on third-party platforms, but we encourage our partners to adopt equivalent standards.
Feedback & Reporting Barriers
We welcome feedback from all users. If you encounter an accessibility barrier on this portal — or if any content or feature is not accessible to you — please contact us directly so we can address the issue promptly.
Report an accessibility barrier
Email nshukla@springboardatlantic.ca with a description of the barrier you encountered, the page URL, and the assistive technology or browser you were using. We aim to respond to accessibility inquiries within five business days.