Ford’s commitment to accessibility

At the Ford Foundation, we are committed to accessibility. We strive to make everything—from our systems and operations to our convenings and communications—as inclusive and accessible as possible. In alignment with our broader work on disability inclusion, we are actively working to assess and improve the accessibility and usability of our website.

Meeting the standards

We follow the web content accessibility guidelines (WCAG, Version 2.1 AA), a universal set of standards designed to make web content accessible to meet the needs of every individual, organization, and government. As we develop new pages and functionality, we consider the principles of accessible design and development at every stage of the process.

Navigating our website

  • Site visitors can change the size of the text on the screen.
  • The color contrast ratios, or the difference between the light and dark elements on the site, meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards for low vision and color vision deficiencies.
  • “Skip to content” links are present at the top of each page for keyboard and screen-reader users.
  • Text alternatives are included for visual and auditory information.
  • Most pages can be navigated using only a keyboard.

Playing videos

  • All videos produced by Ford since 2020 include captions and downloadable transcripts. For videos where visuals require additional understanding, we offer audio-described versions.
  • We are continuing to make videos produced prior to 2020 accessible.
  • Videos from third-party sources (those not produced by Ford) may not have captions, accessible transcripts, or audio descriptions.
  • To improve accessibility beyond our site, we’ve created a free video accessibility WordPress plug-in.

Charting our progress

Accessibility is not a single, static goal. Like many organizations with large websites that have grown over time, we cannot guarantee all pages of our site are equally accessible at this time. Making updates and improvements to our site is an ongoing effort, and we are aware that some areas do not currently meet standards.

Content that does not yet meet WCAG standards:

  • Some reports and PDFs are not formatted for screen readers.
  • Older videos may not have captions, accessible transcripts, or audio descriptions.
  • Older articles may not have alt text on images.
  • Our grants database may not render the correct reading order for screen readers and keyboard navigation.

Third-Party Content

At times, our site links to third-party content created and maintained by other people and organizations. External links, embedded third-party content, and other components beyond our control may or may not meet WCAG standards for accessibility.

We welcome your feedback

We welcome your thoughts on the accessibility of our website. If you encounter accessibility barriers or have other suggestions about the usability of our site, please e-mail us at [email protected].