Digital Accessibility Statement & Framework

At The Houston Patch Co., our mission is to provide high-quality, industrial-grade custom patches to every crew, brand, and organization in the Greater Houston area and beyond. We believe that just as a physical patch must be tactile and legible for a refinery worker in the field, our digital “manufacturing portal” must be accessible and usable for every person, regardless of their physical or cognitive abilities.

We are committed to ensuring digital accessibility for people with disabilities. We are continually improving the user experience for everyone and applying the relevant accessibility standards to our web presence at custompatcheshouston.com.

1. Our Standards: WCAG 2.1 Level AA

The Houston Patch Co. takes the following measures to ensure accessibility:

Conformance Level: We aim to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA standards. These guidelines explain how to make web content more accessible for people with a wide array of disabilities, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, language, learning, and neurological disabilities.

Industrial Integration: We treat digital accessibility as a core component of our “Shop Floor” quality control. Just as we audit the stitch density of a Nomex® FR patch, we audit the code density and contrast ratios of our digital interfaces.

2. Accessibility of the Manufacturing Portal

Our website is more than a brochure; it is a functional manufacturing portal where clients upload complex vector artwork and specify technical industrial requirements. We have prioritized accessibility in the following areas:

The Quote Engine: We have engineered our custom quote request forms to be fully navigable via keyboard and compatible with screen-reading software.

Visual Contrast: We utilize high-contrast color palettes (including our signature Safety Orange) to ensure that text is legible for users with low vision or color blindness.

Text Alternatives: We provide “Alt-Text” for all functional images, including our technical diagrams of 3M™ 300LSE adhesive backings and merrowed borders, ensuring that the “tactile” nature of our products is conveyed digitally.

3. Assistive Technology Compatibility

The Houston Patch Co. is designed to be compatible with the following assistive technologies:

Screen Readers: Our site structure utilizes semantic HTML5 tags to allow JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver users to navigate our manufacturing silos efficiently.

Keyboard Navigation: All interactive elements, including our “Start Your Order” buttons and “Legal Center” cards, can be accessed without the use of a mouse.

Browser Zoom: Our responsive design allows for up to 200% magnification without loss of functionality or “horizontal scrolling” issues, which is critical for users with visual impairments.

4. Technical Specifications

Accessibility of custompatcheshouston.com relies on the following technologies to work with the particular combination of web browser and any assistive technologies or plugins installed on your computer:

  • HTML
  • WAI-ARIA
  • CSS
  • JavaScript

These technologies are relied upon for conformance with the accessibility standards used. We regularly audit our code to ensure that updates to our Wordfence security protocols or our SMTP mail systems do not interfere with the accessibility layer of the site.

5. Manual and Automated Auditing

We do not rely on “automated overlays” which often hinder accessibility more than they help. Instead, The Houston Patch Co. employs a dual-audit approach:

Automated Testing: We utilize industry-standard tools to identify “low-hanging fruit” such as missing labels or broken ARIA paths.

Manual Shop-Floor Review: Our local Houston team performs manual “walk-throughs” of the site using keyboard-only navigation to ensure the “User Flow” from the homepage to the final quote submission is logical and barrier-free.

6. Limitations and Alternatives

Despite our best efforts to ensure accessibility of The Houston Patch Co. portal, there may be some limitations. Below is a description of known limitations and potential solutions:

Client-Uploaded Artwork: We cannot guarantee the accessibility of artwork files (AI, PDF, PNG) uploaded by our clients. However, our master digitizer, Elena Garza, is available to provide verbal descriptions of digitized proofs upon request for clients with visual impairments.

Third-Party Maps: While we provide a map of our Beltway 8 location, some third-party map integrations may have accessibility hurdles beyond our direct control.

7. ADA and Section 508 Compliance for B2B Partners

For our partners in the Houston Energy Corridor, NASA/Aerospace, and Local Government, we recognize that digital accessibility is often a legal requirement for your vendors.

Section 508: We strive to meet Section 508 standards to ensure our manufacturing services are available for federal and state-funded projects.

VPAT Requests: If your organization requires a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) as part of a procurement audit, please contact our logistics team at support@custompatcheshouston.com.

8. Feedback and Formal Complaints

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of our Houston manufacturing shop’s digital presence. If you encounter accessibility barriers, please let us know immediately so we can “patch” the issue.

Email: support@custompatcheshouston.com

We aim to respond to accessibility feedback within 2 business days and to propose a technical resolution within 10 business days.

9. Formal Approval of this Statement

This Accessibility Statement is approved by:

The Houston Patch Co.
Operations & Compliance Department