Accessibility

We want everyone to be able to browse, choose and buy a candle here, however they use the web. This statement describes how the site is built, how it was tested and what we know is still imperfect. It covers the whole site at this address.

Our aim

The target is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at level AA. We believe the site meets it, with the limitations listed below.

What we built in

• Every page works with a keyboard alone. There is a “Skip to content” link, a visible focus outline with at least 3:1 contrast, and a logical tab order.
• The bag, the menu on phones, search and the image viewer are proper dialogs: focus moves into them, stays inside while they are open, returns to where you were when they close, and Esc closes them.
• Search follows the ARIA combobox pattern; the size picker and quiz answers are standard radio buttons; questions and details use native disclosure elements.
• Changes that happen without a page load (adding to the bag, filtering the shop, moving through the quiz) are announced to screen readers through live regions.
• Text and controls meet WCAG AA contrast in both the Day and Evening themes. The ratios are calculated from our design tokens on every build.
• Pages reflow to a 320 pixel wide screen and to 200% zoom without sideways scrolling.
• If you ask your system to reduce motion, animations are switched off and the moving candle flame on the home page is replaced by a still photograph.
• Windows High Contrast (forced colours) keeps borders and focus outlines visible.
• Nothing relies on colour alone: stock levels, errors and selected options are also written in words.
• Content pages work without JavaScript. The bag, checkout, quiz and search need it and say so when it’s off.

How we tested

On 23 September 2026 we ran these checks on the finished site:

• Automated testing with axe-core on 43 pages in both themes (86 page checks): no violations found.
• Lighthouse accessibility audits on the home, shop, product, journal and quiz pages: accessibility scores of home 100, shop 100, product 100, article 100, quiz 100.
• Scripted keyboard tests in Chromium, Firefox and WebKit for the bag, the menus, search, filters, the quiz and every checkout step, including focus trapping and focus return.
• Layout checks at 320, 375, 768, 1024, 1440 and 1920 pixels wide on every page, looking for anything wider than the screen.

We have not yet tested with people who use assistive technology every day, or with every screen reader and browser combination. That would be the next step for a real launch.

Known limitations

• The product images are computer-rendered. Their descriptions say what is in each image, but they cannot convey scent; the written notes do that.

Feedback

If something on this site is hard to use, please tell us at support@lanthorn.shop. The statement above is accurate for this site as built.