Accessibility Statement

LAST UPDATED: [INSERT DATE BEFORE PRODUCTION DEPLOYMENT]

1. Our Commitment

Project Research LLC wants Shuffle21 to be usable by as many people as possible, including people with disabilities, people who are blind or have low vision, people who are hard of hearing, and people who navigate the web with a keyboard, switch device, or screen reader instead of a mouse or touchscreen. Accessibility is treated as an ongoing responsibility, not a one-time checkbox — this statement will be updated as the site changes.

2. Standards We Reference

We use the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA as our reference standard when designing and reviewing Shuffle21. We do not claim full or certified conformance with WCAG or any other standard — Shuffle21 is presently in Beta, and this statement describes a genuine, ongoing effort rather than a completed, audited result.

3. Accessibility Features Already Implemented

• Semantic HTML throughout, including landmark regions, headings, and lists, so assistive technology can understand page structure.
• A "Skip to main content" link at the top of every page for keyboard users.
• Keyboard-operable navigation, menus, and modals — the settings panel and every "How to Play" dialog can be opened, used, and closed (Escape) without a mouse, with focus trapped inside while open and returned when closed.
• Keyboard-operable card play — selectable cards are reachable by Tab and can be activated with Enter or Space, as an alternative to clicking, dragging, or tapping.
• Visible focus indicators on every interactive element, styled with strong contrast rather than the often-invisible browser default.
• ARIA labeling on icon-only controls (such as the settings and menu buttons) and on individual cards (for example, "Ace of Spades" rather than an unlabeled graphic).
• Live region announcements (aria-live) for in-game status messages — whose turn it is, the result of a hand, a completed sequence — so screen-reader users are told about state changes without having to search for them.
• Game state is never communicated through color alone. Hearts-broken status, turn indicators, and win/lose/push outcomes are always paired with text.
• A Reduced Animation setting (Settings panel) that turns off card-movement transitions and win-celebration confetti for people sensitive to motion.
• Sound effects default to off and no game information is ever conveyed by sound alone — audio is a supplementary convenience, never a requirement.
• Resizable, reflowable text and layout that works with browser zoom and does not rely on fixed pixel dimensions for reading content.
• A high-contrast dark color palette designed with legible text-to-background contrast in both body copy and interface labels.

4. Known Limitations

Card games are inherently visual and spatial — a tableau of overlapping cards, a hand fanned out on a table, or a trick in progress is naturally difficult to represent in a way that is fully equivalent for a screen-reader user compared to a sighted player. We have provided keyboard and ARIA-based alternatives to mouse-driven drag-and-drop wherever practical, but we do not yet consider blind gameplay of every game to be fully equivalent to sighted gameplay. Spider Solitaire and Klondike Solitaire's tableau layouts, and Hearts' four-player trick display in particular, are the areas most likely to still present real barriers. Improving this further is an active, ongoing goal for this Beta, not a solved problem.

5. Keyboard Navigation Guide

• Tab / Shift+Tab — move forward/backward between links, buttons, form controls, and selectable cards.
• Enter or Space — activate the focused button, link, or card.
• Escape — close an open modal (Settings or How to Play) and return focus to where you were.

6. Ongoing Efforts During Beta

Because Shuffle21 is in active Beta testing, accessibility improvements are being made incrementally alongside general bug fixes. If something you rely on is missing or broken, we would genuinely like to know — accessibility reports are treated with the same seriousness as any other bug report during this Beta period.

7. Feedback & Contact

If you encounter an accessibility barrier anywhere on Shuffle21, please tell us. Include the page you were on, what assistive technology or browser you were using if relevant, and what you expected to happen. Contact Project Research LLC at admin@projectresearchllc.com or via our Contact page.

8. No Certification Claimed

This statement describes our own good-faith effort and self-assessment. Project Research LLC does not claim any formal third-party accessibility certification, audit, or regulatory approval for Shuffle21.