Accessibility Statement

Our commitment

IrishBenefits.ie is committed to making its website accessible to as many people as possible, including those with disabilities. We aim to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA.

We believe that everyone has the right to access clear information about Irish social welfare payments and benefits, regardless of how they access the web.

What we have done

To make IrishBenefits.ie accessible, we have taken the following steps:

• Semantic HTML — we use correct heading hierarchy (H1 → H2 → H3), lists and landmarks to ensure screen readers can navigate the page correctly.
• Colour contrast — text and background colour combinations on IrishBenefits.ie are designed to meet or exceed WCAG 2.1 AA contrast requirements (minimum 4.5:1 for body text).
• Keyboard navigation — all interactive elements (links, buttons, accordions) can be accessed and operated using a keyboard alone.
• Alt text — all meaningful images include descriptive alt text. Decorative images have empty alt attributes.
• Readable font sizes — body text is set at a minimum of 16px with a line height of at least 1.6.
• Focus indicators — keyboard focus is clearly visible on all interactive elements.
• Responsive design — the website works on all screen sizes including mobile, tablet and desktop.
• Plain English — content is written to be understandable by a general audience, including people with limited literacy or who are not native English speakers.
• ARIA labels — navigation landmarks and interactive components include appropriate ARIA labels where needed.

Known limitations

While we strive for full WCAG 2.1 AA compliance, some areas of the website may not yet fully meet this standard:

• Third-party advertising — Google AdSense advertisements are provided by a third party. We cannot guarantee that all ad content meets our accessibility standards. We have no control over the accessibility of advertiser-provided creatives.
• Complex tables — some payment comparison tables may be challenging to navigate with a screen reader. We are working to improve the markup of these tables.
• PDF documents — we do not currently link to PDF documents on IrishBenefits.ie, but external government PDFs linked from our pages may not be fully accessible.

Report an accessibility issue

If you experience an accessibility barrier on IrishBenefits.ie, or if you find that content is not accessible in the format you need, please contact us:

We take all accessibility reports seriously and aim to fix any confirmed issues as quickly as possible.

Technical information

IrishBenefits.ie relies on the following technologies:

• HTML5
• CSS3
• JavaScript (used only for FAQ accordion and consent banner)
• WordPress (content management system)

The website is tested for accessibility using:

• Keyboard navigation testing (Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter, Space, arrow keys)
• Colour contrast checking against WCAG 2.1 AA ratios
• Browser developer tools accessibility audit

Formal complaints

If you are not satisfied with our response to an accessibility issue, you can contact the National Disability Authority, which is the Irish government body responsible for accessibility standards:

• Website: nda.ie
• Phone: 01 608 0400