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Accessibility statement

Effective from 29 October 2026

We want everyone to be able to use OpenStaff, including people who use a keyboard instead of a mouse, a screen reader, voice control, screen magnification or their own colour and text settings. This statement says what standard we are working towards, what works today, what we know still needs work, and how to tell us about a problem or ask for another way to use the service. We publish it by choice. It is not a claim that OpenStaff has been audited or certified.

The standard we work to

We work to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.2, at level AA. That applies to the public pages, the candidate area and the employer area. When an employer pays for a job post, the payment page is run by our payment provider, Stripe, and this statement does not cover it.

We have not reached that standard on every page yet, and OpenStaff has not been independently audited. The sections below say what works and what does not.

What works today

Using a keyboard

  • Skip links. The public homepage, the candidate area and the employer area each start with a "Skip to content" link, so that you can jump past the menu.
  • Matched jobs. Your matched jobs are shown one at a time, as a stack of cards. You never have to swipe or drag. Skip, Save and Apply are ordinary buttons below the card. You can also press the left arrow to skip, the up arrow to save and the right arrow to apply. A skip can be undone.
  • Another way to see your matches. The "Find jobs" list shows every open job as an ordinary list, including your matches with their scores. You can sort it by best match, and read and apply for any job from there.
  • Hiring pipeline. Employers can drag an application from one stage to another, but they do not have to. Every card has a "Move to stage" menu that works with a keyboard, a touch screen and a screen reader. Moving someone to Trial or Hired opens a short dialog first. The same change can be made with buttons in the application review window.
  • Focus. Buttons and form fields show a clear outline when they have keyboard focus.

Forms

  • Every field on the sign-up, sign-in and password pages has a visible label that screen readers read out.
  • Fields that ask for your own details, such as your name, email address and date of birth, say what kind of information they expect, so that your browser or password manager can fill them in.
  • Error messages are announced to screen readers when they appear.

Movement

  • If your device is set to reduce motion, the card animations in your matched jobs are switched off.
  • The animated demonstration on the homepage does not play by itself when your device is set to reduce motion. It also stops when it is off screen or the tab is hidden. Keyboard users can pause it with a Pause button that appears when it has focus.

Reading and listening

  • Every page states that it is in English, so that a screen reader uses the right voice.
  • Images that carry meaning, such as profile photos, have a text alternative. Decorative images are hidden from screen readers.
  • Confirmation messages, such as the one you get after applying, are announced to screen readers.
  • The text on our main buttons has more contrast than level AA requires.

What we know still needs work

  • Form errors. On the sign-in and password pages, an error is announced, but it is not yet linked to the field it is about.
  • Skip link on the sign-in pages. The sign-in, sign-up and password pages have no "Skip to content" link. Only the logo comes before the form.
  • Example text in form fields. The pale example text shown inside some empty fields has less contrast than the standard asks for. The labels above the fields meet it.
  • Movement in the page header. Some transitions in the homepage header do not yet switch off when your device is set to reduce motion.
  • Pausing the homepage demonstration. The Pause button can be reached with a keyboard only. There is no pause control on screen for people who use a mouse or a touch screen.
  • Text written by other people. Job posts and messages are written by employers and candidates. We cannot promise that they are well structured or clearly written.
  • Assistive technology. We have not tested OpenStaff with the full range of screen readers, voice control and screen magnification tools, so there may be problems we do not know about yet.

How we test

We test with an automated accessibility checker and by hand, using a keyboard and a screen reader.

Another way to use the service, and adjustments

If something on OpenStaff does not work for you, tell us and we will try to find another way. For example:

  • we can take you through a step by email;
  • if the stack of matched jobs is hard to use, the "Find jobs" list shows the same jobs as an ordinary list;
  • you can ask for a person to look at your profile and your matches, instead of relying on the automated matching alone: use "Ask a person to look at my matches" or "Adjustments to your matching" in your settings, or "Ask a person to review this" beside a match.

You do not have to tell us about a health condition or a disability to ask for help. Please do not put health information in your profile. Employers who match with you can read your role descriptions, and parts of your profile are sent to the AI models that do the matching. Tell us privately instead.

Adjustments to an interview, a trial shift or a workplace are arranged between you and the employer. If you think an employer has treated you unfairly because of a disability, you can report it to us.

How to tell us

It helps if you tell us:

  • the page or feature you were using;
  • what you were trying to do, and what happened;
  • the device, the browser and any assistive technology you use, if you are happy to say.

What we will do

We will let you know that we have received your message. We will look into the problem and tell you what we can do and when. If we cannot fix it quickly, we will offer you another way to do what you were trying to do.

If you are not happy with our answer

Use the complaints procedure in our terms of use for candidates or our employer terms, under "Complaints, reports and appeals". You can also get information and advice about discrimination from the Equality Advisory Support Service (EASS) (opens in a new tab), which is separate from OpenStaff.