Accessibility Statement

1. Our Commitment

Blue Spine is committed to ensuring digital accessibility for people with disabilities. We continually improve the user experience for everyone and apply relevant accessibility standards to ensure we provide equal access to all of our patients, visitors, and caregivers.

We believe that all people — regardless of ability — deserve access to the information and services our practice provides. This includes people who are blind or have low vision, people who are deaf or hard of hearing, people with motor disabilities, people with cognitive disabilities, and people using assistive technologies.

Our accessibility efforts are ongoing. We review our website regularly against published standards and address identified issues as quickly as resources allow.

2. Standards We Follow

We aim to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA. These guidelines, published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), explain how to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities. Conformance with these guidelines helps make the web more user-friendly for all people.

Our website is also designed to meet the requirements of:

• Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (as amended)
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III, which requires places of public accommodation to ensure effective communication and equal access
• Florida accessibility guidelines applicable to health care providers

WCAG 2.1 Level AA requires that content be:

• Perceivable — information and UI components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive
• Operable — UI components and navigation must be operable by keyboard and assistive technology
• Understandable — information and the operation of the UI must be understandable
• Robust — content must be robust enough to be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies

3. Accessibility Features on This Website

We have implemented the following accessibility features throughout this website:

Keyboard Navigation

• All interactive elements (links, buttons, form fields) are reachable and operable via keyboard
• A visible "Skip to main content" link appears at the top of every page, allowing keyboard users to bypass repetitive navigation
• Focus indicators are visible on all interactive elements
• Mobile navigation menu is managed with ARIA inert and aria-hidden to prevent keyboard trapping when closed

Screen Reader Support

• All images include descriptive alt attributes; decorative images are marked with empty alt=""
• All form fields have associated <label> elements
• ARIA landmarks (main, nav, footer) define page regions
• Icon-only buttons include aria-label text
• Expandable navigation sections use aria-expanded and aria-controls

Visual Design

• Text colour contrast meets or exceeds the WCAG 2.1 AA minimum ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text
• Information is never conveyed by colour alone — icons, text labels, and patterns supplement colour coding
• Text can be resized up to 200% without loss of content or functionality
• The site is usable at the browser's default font size with no horizontal scrolling

Media and Documents

• Patient forms linked from our website are available in multiple formats upon request
• Videos, where present, include captions
• PDFs are available in accessible HTML format upon request

Structured Data and Semantics

• Pages use proper heading hierarchy (H1 → H2 → H3) to aid navigation
• Lists are marked up with <ul> or <ol> elements
• Page language is declared (lang="en")
• Navigation regions are distinct and labelled with aria-label

4. Assistive Technology Compatibility

This website is designed to be compatible with the following assistive technologies:

• Screen readers — NVDA (Windows), JAWS (Windows), VoiceOver (macOS / iOS), TalkBack (Android)
• Keyboard-only navigation — using Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter, Space, and arrow keys
• Browser zoom — tested at up to 400% magnification
• High-contrast mode — Windows High Contrast Mode and macOS Increased Contrast
• Voice control — Dragon NaturallySpeaking, Voice Control (macOS / iOS)

We test primarily against Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge on Windows and macOS. If you encounter a problem with a specific browser or assistive technology combination, please let us know.

5. Known Limitations

Despite our best efforts, some areas of the website may not fully conform to WCAG 2.1 AA. Known limitations include:

• Third-party embedded maps — our contact page includes a Google Maps embed. The map interface itself may not be fully accessible; we provide the full address and a directions link as alternatives.
• Legacy PDF documents — some patient forms may not be fully accessible. Please contact us and we will provide the content in an alternative format.
• Video content — videos hosted on third-party platforms may have limited caption accuracy. We are working to improve caption quality.

We are actively working to address these limitations. If you find an accessibility barrier not listed here, please tell us.

6. How We Test

We assess the accessibility of our website using a combination of:

• Automated testing — Google Lighthouse accessibility audits run on every page after each significant change, targeting a score of 100/100
• Manual keyboard testing — all interactive flows tested without a mouse
• Screen reader testing — key pages reviewed with VoiceOver on macOS and NVDA on Windows
• Colour contrast analysis — all text/background combinations verified against WCAG 2.1 AA ratios using a contrast analyser
• Browser zoom testing — pages tested at 200% and 400% browser zoom

7. Requesting Accommodations

If you need information or a service in an alternative format, or if you require an accommodation to access our services, please contact us using the information below. We will work with you to provide access in a timely manner. Examples of accommodations we can provide include:

• Patient forms in large print or alternative file formats
• Information available in this website in an alternative format (plain text, audio, large print)
• Scheduling telephone or in-person assistance as an alternative to our online forms
• On-site accommodations for patients with mobility, vision, or hearing disabilities at our Clearwater facility

8. Feedback & Contact

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of our website. If you encounter an accessibility barrier or have suggestions for improvement, please let us know:

Please describe the barrier you encountered, the assistive technology and browser you were using, and the web address (URL) where you experienced the problem. We aim to respond to feedback within 5 business days.

9. Formal Grievance Procedure

If you are not satisfied with our response to your accessibility feedback or accommodation request, you may submit a formal grievance by writing to our facility administrator at the address listed in Section 8. We are committed to resolving all grievances in a fair and timely manner, generally within 15 business days of receipt of a written complaint.

You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Disability Rights Section, if you believe we have failed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act: