Accessibility statement
This English version is provided for convenience. The German version is the legally binding one.
We want every person to be able to keep their pet's record, including with impaired vision, a screen reader or without a mouse. This page says openly how far along we are.
- Status
- Partially conformant with WCAG 2.2 Level AA
- Reviewed version
- 1.0.0 (1)
- Review date
- Last updated
- Method
- Self-assessment, no external audit
Reviewed were the owner app, the workspace for shelters and rescues, the public pages and the shared pet pass.
What is already met
- All texts, buttons and status colors reach the required contrast ratios, in the light and the dark theme. The values are computed, not estimated.
- Input fields have visible borders, real labels and are at least 48 pixels tall.
- Anyone who has reduced motion set in their operating system gets a calm interface without animations.
- Color is never the only information. The vaccination status, for example, also carries a name.
- The order of sections in the pet record can be changed with buttons, not only by dragging.
- Pets and groups on the overview can be reordered without a mouse: tab to the card, space grabs, arrow keys move, space drops.
- At the start of every page sits a skip link that jumps past the header and navigation. It becomes visible as soon as it receives focus.
- Every page has its own descriptive title, so it is clear where you landed when switching.
- When a dialog opens, keyboard control moves inside and stays there; on closing it returns to where it was. The background is silenced for screen readers.
- The moving photo band on the start page has a pause button that also works on the phone and by keyboard.
- The page language is set, headings and regions are marked up, dialogs close with Escape.
- The keyboard focus indicator is consistent everywhere: a clear outline in the brand color, even where fields themselves have no border.
- Labels stay readable with any freely chosen color: the text color is computed from the chosen color and always reaches the required contrast.
- Error messages receive focus when they appear and are therefore announced by screen readers, even after a page reload.
What is not yet accessible
From our own review, no item is currently open. The review of 17 September 2026 found and fixed dialogs without focus management, fields without labels, targets that were too small, contrast issues in the shared pet pass on dark devices, and animations that ignored the system setting. That does not mean nothing is left to find: the checks with real assistive tools listed below are still pending, and whatever they find will be listed here.
How we reviewed
The review was a self-assessment: a pass through the source code against the criteria of WCAG 2.2 Level AA and a computation of all color contrasts. Not yet checked are a walkthrough with real screen readers, rendering at 200 percent zoom, the Windows contrast mode and the printed pet pass. Testing with these tools may surface further items. As soon as it has taken place, date, version and results will be listed here.
Found something? Please tell us
If you run into a barrier, that is the most valuable feedback of all. Write to us at hello@merla.pet. We will tell you whether and when we can fix it.
Legal framework
The benchmark is the German Accessibility Strengthening Act, which implements the European directive 2019/882, with the standard EN 301 549 and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. As a micro-enterprise we are currently exempt. We publish this statement anyway, because a health record should be usable by everyone, and not only once a law demands it.
If you are not satisfied with our reply, you can turn to the German market surveillance authority for the accessibility of products and services.