Accessibility Statement

Treasure Hunt Tours Ltd is committed to making our games accessible to all users, in accordance with the Equality Act 2010. We strive to ensure that our digital services are inclusive and usable by everyone, including people with disabilities.

This accessibility statement applies to two URLs accessed by treasure hunt participants:

1. Instructions page - the web page used by treasure hunt participants to read their instructions and join their game. The URL for this page is e.g.
   https://treasurehuntleeds.com/join/{bookingID}
2. Game web application - the web application that provides the actual treasure hunt experience. The URL for this page is e.g.
   https://play.treasurehuntleeds.com/game/{gameID}

It does not apply to:

• other pages on our website such as the home page,
• the in-game “Captain’s Log” pages linked at the end of the game.

Contents

• How you should be able to use our game and website
• Our games require one team member with good eyesight
• We aim for full wheelchair accessibility
• Accessibility of our web pages
• Non-accessible content in the game web application
  • Missing image alt tags (Non-text content)
  • Inability to skip chat history (Bypass blocks)
  • Focus order of links
• Preparation of this accessibility statement
• Improvements we made as a result of this assessment
• Instructions page improvements
• Game web application improvements
• Roadmap of future improvements
• We welcome your feedback
• If we haven’t addressed your concerns

How you should be able to use our game and website

We want as many people as possible to be able to use our game app and website. You should be able to:

• change colours, contrast levels and fonts using browser or device settings
• zoom in up to 400% without the text spilling off the screen
• navigate most of the website using a keyboard or speech recognition software
• listen to most of the website using a screen reader (including the most recent versions of JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver)

We also make the website text as simple as possible to understand.

Our games require one team member with good eyesight

Our games involve navigating around a city centre, following maps based on landmarks and solving cryptic clues by spotting things in the city.

The games require at least one team member to have good eyesight in order to navigate and see answers to clues.

Due to the team-based nature of the game, people without good eyesight can participate as part of a team. Part of the challenge of solving the clues is deciphering the meaning of the clue which does not require good eyesight.

We have built the game to accommodate use with assistive technologies and so we hope that visually impaired people can participate and enjoy the game.

We aim for full wheelchair accessibility

When we started the business we were keen to accommodate wheelchair users.

We are careful when designing the route. We aim to:

• Avoid steps, narrow paths (under 80cm) and obstacles on footpaths,
• Ensure there are dropped kerbs along the route,
• Report any missing or partial dropped kerbs to the Council.

Certain features can cause problems for wheelchair users:

• Cobbled streets,
• Inclined paths,
• New obstacles being added to footpaths, e.g. a parking sign,
• Roadworks without adequate dropped kerb replacements.

We aim to have every game independently reviewed by a wheelchair user. We offer a free game in exchange for an honest review which we publish unedited.

We have not yet completed a wheelchair review for Treasure Hunt Brighton. If you're a wheelchair user and you'd like to play for free in exchange for a review, please email ahoy@treasurehuntbrighton.com.

Accessibility of our web pages

The Instructions page is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard due to the limited subset of success criteria we tested against. It passes the 23 success criteria we assessed against.

The Game web application is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 2.2 AA standard due to:

• the limited subset of success criteria we tested against (detailed later in this statement),
• the non-compliances listed below.

Non-accessible content in the game web application

The content listed below is non-accessible for the following reasons.

Non-compliance with the accessibility regulations

Missing image alt tags (Non-text content)

Within our games we use three types of images:

1. Walking maps - showing a route from where you are to the next clue.
2. Navigational images - for example an entrance to an alleyway that the player needs to find in order to continue.
3. Informative images - for example a city’s coat of arms, a reconstruction of an old street, an archive photograph.

Currently these images do not have a text alternative as required by WCAG 1.1.1.

Walking maps and navigational images

These images should have a text alternative that describes that the image is a map or a landmark. We don’t believe it’s proportionate to provide an alternative navigation method given that good eyesight is required to see street names and landmarks in the city itself.

Informative images

This type of image should have a detailed text description. This has been added to our roadmap below.

Inability to skip chat history (Bypass blocks)

As chat messages appear, the page gets longer. If a player reloads the page part-way through a game, there are a lot of historical messages to scroll through in order to reach the most recent one.

WCAG 2.4.1 specifies that a page must provide a keyboard-accessible method to bypass repetitive content. The game page currently fails this criteria and we have added this to our roadmap.

Focus order of links

The game is like a WhatsApp chat conversation where messages appear over time at the bottom of the screen.

The focus should automatically shift to each new message as it appears during gameplay. This would ensure that any links within chat messages would be the next item in the tab order.

Following the message, the focus should logically proceed to the “Type your message” input box, and then to the “Send” button.

Testing this behaviour properly would require hiring an experienced screen reader user. We considered it a disproportionate burden.

The game page may be accessible but without testing we consider that it fails WCAG 2.4.3.

Preparation of this accessibility statement

This statement was prepared on 20th August 2024.

To prepare this statement, we carried out a self assessment.

We manually examined the two URLs using the tool Accessibility Insights for Web tool (version 2.44.0, Powered by axe-core 4.9.1).

We used the “Quick Assess” workflow which assesses a subset of WCAG 2.2 A and AA success criteria.

We tested the two URLs against 23 WCAG 2.2 A & AA success criteria:

• WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A)
• WCAG 1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded) (Level A)
• WCAG 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded) (Level A)
• WCAG 1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A)
• WCAG 1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose (Level AA)
• WCAG 1.4.1 Use of Color (Level A)
• WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA)
• WCAG 1.4.4 Resize Text (Level AA)
• WCAG 1.4.10 Reflow (Level AA)
• WCAG 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast (Level AA)
• WCAG 1.4.12 Text Spacing (Level AA)
• WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard (Level A)
• WCAG 2.2.1 Timing Adjustable (Level A)
• WCAG 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide (Level A)
• WCAG 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (Level A)
• WCAG 2.4.2 Page Titled (Level A)
• WCAG 2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A)
• WCAG 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (Level A)
• WCAG 2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA)
• WCAG 2.5.3 Label in Name (Level A)
• WCAG 3.1.1 Language of Page (Level A)
• WCAG 3.1.2 Language of Parts (Level AA)
• WCAG 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A)

We did not test against the following WCAG 2.2 success criteria:

• 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded)
• 1.2.4 Captions (Live)
• 1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded)
• 1.2.6 Sign Language (Prerecorded)
• 1.2.7 Extended Audio Description (Prerecorded)
• 1.2.8 Media Alternative (Prerecorded)
• 1.2.9 Audio-only (Live)
• 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence
• 1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics
• 1.3.4 Orientation
• 1.3.6 Identify Purpose
• 1.4.2 Audio Control
• 1.4.5 Images of Text
• 1.4.6 Contrast (Enhanced)
• 1.4.7 Low or No Background Audio
• 1.4.8 Visual Presentation
• 1.4.9 Images of Text (No Exception)
• 1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus
• 2.1.2 No Keyboard Trap
• 2.1.3 Keyboard (No Exception)
• 2.1.4 Character Key Shortcuts
• 2.2.3 No Timing
• 2.2.4 Interruptions
• 2.2.5 Re-authenticating
• 2.2.6 Timeouts
• 2.3.1 Three Flashes or Below Threshold
• 2.3.2 Three Flashes
• 2.3.3 Animation from Interactions
• 2.4.5 Multiple Ways
• 2.4.7 Focus Visible
• 2.4.8 Location
• 2.4.9 Link Purpose (Link Only)
• 2.4.10 Section Headings
• 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum)
• 2.4.12 Focus Not Obscured (Enhanced)
• 2.4.13 Focus Appearance
• 2.5.1 Pointer Gestures
• 2.5.2 Pointer Cancellation
• 2.5.4 Motion Actuation
• 2.5.5 Target Size (Enhanced)
• 2.5.6 Concurrent Input Mechanisms
• 2.5.7 Dragging Movements
• 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum)
• 3.1.3 Unusual Words
• 3.1.4 Abbreviations
• 3.1.5 Reading Level
• 3.1.6 Pronunciation
• 3.2.1 On Focus
• 3.2.2 On Input
• 3.2.3 Consistent Navigation
• 3.2.4 Consistent Identification
• 3.2.5 Change on Request
• 3.2.6 Consistent Help
• 3.3.1 Error Identification
• 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions
• 3.3.3 Error Suggestion
• 3.3.4 Error Prevention (Legal, Financial, Data)
• 3.3.5 Help
• 3.3.6 Error Prevention (All)
• 3.3.7 Redundant Entry
• 3.3.8 Accessible Authentication (Minimum)
• 3.3.9 Accessible Authentication (Enhanced)
• 4.1.1 Parsing (Obsolete and removed)
• 4.1.3 Status Messages

At this stage, it would have been a disproportionate burden to assess every WCAG 2.2 AA success criteria given the size and resources of the company.

The statement was last reviewed on 20th August 2024

Improvements we made as a result of this assessment

As we performed the assessment we evaluated whether issues could be fixed immediately or would require more substantial work.

We made the changes detailed below.

Instructions page improvements

• Increased colour contrast of call to action buttons and links - WCAG 1.4.3
• Added aria-hidden to decorative emojis in page headings - WCAG 2.4.6
• Included more text in link to make it descriptive - WCAG 2.4.4

After making these changes, the page passed all the Quick Assess success criteria.

Game web application improvements

• Player name screen: add alt tag to treasure hunt logo - WCAG 1.1.1
• Player name screen: fix input element label - WCAG 1.3.5
• Player name screen: use h1 and h2 headings - WCAG 2.4.6
• Player name screen: Increase colour contrast of input hint and join button - WCAG 1.4.3
• Chat screen: Increase colour contrast of links inside chat messages, send button, input element border - WCAG 1.4.3
• Chat screen: add alt tag to QR code used by other players to join the game - WCAG 1.1.1
• Chat screen: improve aria label for message input box - WCAG 1.3.5
• Chat screen: add tabindex attribute to message input box and send button - WCAG 2.4.3

Roadmap of future improvements

We are committed to making further, larger improvements outlined below:

• Add alt tags to all images in the game application,
• Add the ability to skip to the most recent message,
• Make aria-label of input box mirror the hint shown above the input box,
• Assess all pages on our website and the in-game “Captain’s Log”,
• Assess against all WCAG 2.2 AA success criteria.

We welcome your feedback

If you’d like to contact us about any aspect of our accessibility, we would be happy to hear from you.

Please email ahoy@treasurehuntbrighton.com or phone 01273 917 468.

If we haven’t addressed your concerns

If you experience accessibility issues with our website or game web application and feel that we have not adequately addressed your concerns, you can seek further assistance or advice.

For issues related to accessibility and discrimination, you may contact the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which is responsible for enforcing the Equality Act 2010 in England, Scotland, and Wales.

If you need further advice or wish to make a complaint, you can also contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) for assistance.