Policies
Accessibility statement
We want everyone who works on a ground investigation to be able to use StrataScope. This statement covers this website (mte-hq.co.uk) and the StrataScope tool (app.mte-hq.co.uk). We publish it voluntarily: the accessibility regulations for public sector websites do not apply to us, but the aim is the same.
1The standard we aim for
We aim to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.2 at level AA. We have not yet had either the website or the tool independently audited against it, so we do not claim that they meet it.
2What we have done
On this website, and on the tool's screens unless a gap below says otherwise:
- A "Skip to content" link is the first thing on every page, and every page has a header, a main area and a footer that assistive technology can find.
- Headings follow in order, and links say where they go.
- Every control can be reached and used with a keyboard, and shows a clear red outline when it has focus.
- Text is set against a contrast floor: no reading text is lighter than 70% of the ink colour on any background.
- Every image that carries information has a text description.
- Nothing moves on its own. Hover and focus feedback is the only motion, and it switches off if your system asks for reduced motion.
- Pages reflow to a phone's width without sideways scrolling, and text can be enlarged in the browser.
- In the tool, panes can be resized with the arrow keys as well as by dragging, long waits are described in words in a status panel rather than a spinner, and click targets are at least 24 pixels.
3Known gaps
- The tool's drawings (logs, sections, the site plan and graphs) are visual. The values behind them are in the register and tables, but the drawings themselves cannot yet be read by a screen reader.
- Geological colours and hatching follow the BS 5930 and BGS conventions and cannot be changed for contrast; strata are also named in words.
- Reordering report appendices is done by dragging. [TO CONFIRM: whether a keyboard way to reorder exists]
- The Word and Excel documents the tool generates have not yet been checked with a screen reader.
We are working on these and will update this statement as they are fixed.
4How we checked
We checked this website ourselves on 5 October 2026, with a keyboard, at desktop and phone widths, and by reading the page structure back. The tool is checked the same way as each screen changes. Neither has had an independent audit.
5Problems and other formats
If something here or in the tool is hard to use, or you need information in a different format, email info@mte-hq.co.uk. Tell us the page or screen, what you were trying to do and what you use (for example a screen reader or magnifier). We will reply within [TO CONFIRM: number of working days] and, where we can, make a reasonable adjustment for you.