Valve Warehouse Australia
is built to be used by everyone.

Valve Warehouse Australia is committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of ability or technology. We treat accessibility as a baseline requirement of every release — not a retrofit.

That commitment is practical. It means a licensed plumber with a hand tremor can operate our filters on a ute-seat phone. It means a facilities manager using a screen reader can find the right thermostatic mixing valve without sighted help. It means a trade buyer with dyslexia, low vision, or limited English literacy can switch to our Easy Read mode and get the same information in plainer language. Accessibility isn't a charitable afterthought — it's how a supply business earns the trust of every tradesperson in Australia.

If something on this site prevents you from doing what you came here to do, we want to know. Section 8 tells you how to reach us and what to expect when you do.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 are the international standard for web accessibility. They define three levels of conformance — Level A (minimum), Level AA (standard for most legal compliance, including the Australian Disability Discrimination Act 1992), and Level AAA (the enhanced level we chose to meet).

Our claim covers all pages served from valvewarehouseaustralia.com.au, in both the default Trade voice and the Easy Read supplemental version. The claim does not cover PDF downloads, third-party embedded content, or links to external sites — see Section 6 for the honest list of what's out of scope and what we're doing about each item.

Conformance is a standing process, not a milestone. We maintain it through a set of concrete practices:

• Accessibility-first design tokens. Every colour pairing in our design system is audited at 7:1 contrast or higher. Every interactive element meets 44×44 CSS pixel target size. Our focus indicators are 3px double-layer rings that exceed §2.4.13. These are enforced at the token level, not the page level.
• Automated testing in continuous integration. Every code change runs through axe DevTools, Lighthouse, and WAVE as part of our build pipeline. Pull requests that introduce accessibility regressions cannot be merged.
• Manual keyboard and screen-reader passes. Every major release is verified with NVDA (Windows) and VoiceOver (macOS, iOS), and by keyboard-only navigation.
• Dual-voice content. Every page exists in a default Trade voice and an Easy Read supplemental version. The Easy Read version satisfies the content-level AAA criteria (§3.1.3, §3.1.4, §3.1.5) that the Trade voice cannot, by its nature, meet.
• Named accessibility owner. One person on our team is accountable for this statement and for responding to every access issue reported.
• User testing. We periodically run the site past users with disabilities — vision impairment, motor impairment, cognitive disability — and incorporate their feedback into subsequent releases.

The site runs in two voices. Both versions share the same layout, the same colours, the same components — what changes is the words.

Trade voice (default). Written for licensed plumbers and trade buyers. Uses industry terminology without expansion — "PRV," "1/2" BSP," "WaterMark TMV3." Tight, technical, fast to scan. This is the voice most of our users want most of the time.

Easy Read (supplemental version). Written at a Year 9 reading level. Every abbreviation is expanded on first use. Every trade term links to its glossary entry. Sentences are kept under 20 words where possible. Specific details (stock counts, dispatch times, prices) are preserved exactly — "plain language" does not mean "vague language."

The toggle. A persistent pill in the top bar of every page reads Easy read · Trade mode. Click it to switch. The choice is session-sticky, so once you've turned Easy Read on, it stays on across every page you visit until you turn it off. The URL parameter ?voice=plain lets you bookmark, share, or link directly into the Easy Read version.

Why this approach. WCAG 2.2 §5.2.5 permits a conforming alternate version as an equally valid path to AAA conformance. We chose it deliberately: forcing the Trade voice into Year 9 language would make the site slower and more frustrating for the licensed tradespeople it primarily serves. The Easy Read version satisfies the content-level AAA criteria without compromising the usefulness of the Trade voice for the people who need it.

Technologies this site relies on

Accessibility conformance depends on the following technologies working together:

• HTML 5
• Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) 3
• JavaScript (ECMAScript 2022)
• WAI-ARIA 1.2
• Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.1

These technologies are relied upon for conformance. If any of them is disabled in the user's browser, some accessibility features may be reduced.

Browsers and assistive technologies tested

We cannot guarantee accessibility on browser or assistive-technology versions more than two major releases out of date. If you use an older combination and encounter issues, please contact us — we will look for a workaround.

Despite our best efforts, the following limitations are known. Each is listed with a description, the planned fix, and an accessible alternative where one exists.

We assessed the accessibility of this website through a combination of self-evaluation and third-party review. Specifically:

• Automated testing. Every page is scanned using axe DevTools, Lighthouse, and WAVE. No automated testing tool catches everything — these are a floor, not a ceiling.
• Manual keyboard testing. Every interactive element is reachable and operable using only a keyboard. No keyboard trap exists anywhere on the site.
• Manual screen-reader testing. Key user journeys (browse catalogue, apply filter, view product, submit trade enquiry, toggle Easy Read mode) are tested with NVDA and VoiceOver on each release.
• Reading-level verification. The Easy Read version is checked against the Flesch-Kincaid and Hemingway readability scales. Target: Year 9 reading level or below (Flesch-Kincaid Grade 9; Hemingway "Grade 9: Good").
• Contrast verification. Every text and UI colour pairing in our design tokens is verified using the WebAIM Contrast Checker and our own audit script. Records are kept in the design system's changelog.
• User testing with disabled users. Twice per year we run moderated sessions with users who have vision, motor, and cognitive disabilities. Findings are documented and folded into our backlog.

We self-evaluate rather than purchasing a certified third-party audit because self-evaluation is compliant with WCAG-EM (the W3C's Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology) and lets us continuously re-assess rather than treating accessibility as a one-off compliance checkpoint. We will commission an independent audit prior to any major rebrand or structural change.

If you encounter an accessibility barrier anywhere on this site, please tell us. Reporting an issue is always free, does not require you to identify yourself as disabled, and does not require any particular format or technical detail.

What to include, if you can

Helpful to include — but not required:

• The URL of the page where the issue occurred
• A description of what you were trying to do
• What happened, or failed to happen
• The device, browser, and assistive technology you were using (if you know)

What to expect from us

• Acknowledgement within 2 business days. We will confirm we've received your report and tell you who is looking into it.
• Initial assessment within 5 business days. We will explain what we've found, whether it's a bug or a design choice, and what our plan is.
• Fix within 10 business days for issues that can be fixed quickly. For structural issues, we will give you a specific timeline and an accessible alternative in the meantime.
• Your privacy. We do not share your contact details with third parties. We do not require you to disclose any disability.

If you're not satisfied with our response

You may escalate a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission, which administers the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. Their website is humanrights.gov.au; their phone line is 1300 656 419.

This statement is reviewed every six months and after any major release. The next scheduled review is 24 October 2026.