Accessibility Statement for BlackStar Projects

This is an accessibility statement from BlackStar Projects regarding the website blackstarfest.org.

As an intersectional feminist organization celebrating and providing platforms for Black, Brown, and Indigenous artists we are committed to being access-centered in our work, while acknowledging that we are in a learning process around this.

We are indebted to the training and framework provided by PeoplesHub.

To download our 2022 BlackStar Film Festival Accessibility Guide, click here.

Our effort to ensure the accessibility of BlackStar Projects, including this website, is an ongoing project. We continue to work with external consultants to determine ways that we can improve our website and welcome your feedback as well.

Below are some important considerations for anyone using our site and potential solutions to a few known issues. Please contact us if you observe an issue not listed below.

1. Video captions and audio descriptions: Uploaded video content may not include captions, subtitles, and/or audio descriptions. We cannot ensure the quality of all embedded content either. BlackStar continues to increase our capacity and resources for these services, but much of our archival content may not yet be updated to include these things. In the meantime we are committed to adding video descriptions where possible.
2. Image descriptions (Alt Text): Uploaded images may not have text alternatives. We do our best as a team but cannot ensure the quality of all uploads. BlackStar continues to increase our capacity and resources for these services, but images from our archive may not yet have descriptions. If you notice a specific image with missing alternative text, please email us to let us know.
3. Text-only mode: As we continue to redesign our website, BlackStar is in the process of creating a text-only view of our pages. We hope to have this completed by August 2022.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) defines requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. It defines three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA. BlackStar Projects is partially conformant with WCAG 2.0 level AA. Partially conformant means that some parts of the content do not fully conform to the accessibility standard as we transition archival content onto this new platform.

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of BlackStar Projects. Please let us know if you encounter accessibility barriers on blackstarfest.org:

• E-mail: [email protected]
• @blackstarfest on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook

We try to respond to feedback within 7 business days.

BlackStar Projects’ website is designed to be compatible with the following assistive technologies:

• Chrome browser with assistive technology on ChromeOS, macOS, and Windows
• Firefox browser with assistive technology listed here
• Safari browser with assistive technology on macOS

BlackStar Projects’ website is not compatible with:

• Browsers mentioned above older than the last 3 major versions
• Mobile operating systems older than 5 years

Accessibility of BlackStar Projects 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
• CSS
• JavaScript

These technologies are relied upon for conformance with the accessibility standards used.

BlackStar Projects assessed the accessibility of BlackStar Projects by the following approaches:

• Self-evaluation with our developers at The Unloved
• External evaluation (In process for completion by August 2022)

Please email us at [email protected] to report any issues or to share feedback.

This Accessibility Statement is approved by:

BlackStar Projects
Imran Siddiquee
Chief Communications Officer

January 2021