Accessibility · Feature register
Accessibility at Patient Compass Suite
Accessibility-first delivery is the central promise of Patient Compass Suite. A significant fraction of surgical patients are neurodivergent, or read English as a second language, or simply meet this information at the most stressful moment of their year — and standard leaflets are not written for them. This page lists what the suite actually does about that, feature by feature.
Every feature below has a permanent link — the beside each heading — so it can be cited directly from a tender, an email or a review.
Two ways to read everything
Accessibility here starts with the content itself, not with a widget bolted on afterwards.
Dual-track content §
Every step of every pathway is written twice: a standard clinical version and an easy-read version. Both carry the same material information — risks, options and instructions. Easy-read changes how something is said, never what is disclosed.
The reading-mode chooser §
On first visit the reader is offered an explicit choice between the two reading modes, so easy-read is surfaced up front rather than buried in a settings menu. The choice persists, and the toggle stays one tap away on every page.
What easy-read means here §
Easy-read is a separate content track, not a font swap. Its editorial rules: sentences of fifteen words or fewer, one idea per sentence, active voice, no idioms or figurative language, no medical term without an immediate plain-English definition, and numbered steps for anything sequential.
Honest gaps §
Where an easy-read version of a section has not yet been written, the standard text is shown with a visible, plain-language note saying so. A gap is never disguised as easy-read.
Terms explained in the sentence §
Medical terms are explained in plain English inside the sentence itself — “vas deferens, the tube that carries sperm” — rather than behind a hover or a tap. An explanation carried in the prose survives printing, read-aloud and screen readers without any interaction.
Adjustable by the reader
Reading preferences are set once, applied everywhere in the app, and remembered on the reader’s own device — they are never sent to a server.
Text size §
Three text sizes — standard, large and extra large — applied across the whole app, not just to body text.
High-contrast mode §
A high-contrast toggle replaces the standard palette with maximum-contrast text, borders and accents.
Reduced motion §
The operating system’s reduced-motion setting is respected automatically, and an in-app toggle offers the same control. Either signal removes decorative animation while essential state changes still register.
Light and dark themes §
The patient apps ship a full light and dark theme, initialised from the device setting and switchable in the app.
A hyperlegible typeface for easy-read §
Easy-read mode sets its text in Atkinson Hyperlegible — a typeface designed for low-vision legibility — with relaxed line spacing.
Read aloud §
The Compass carries a read-aloud control on each recovery day, with its state announced correctly to assistive technology.
Calm and predictable by design
A significant proportion of surgical patients are neurodivergent. Predictability is treated as an accessibility requirement, not a styling preference.
A calm palette §
Cautions use calm amber; red is reserved for genuine emergency guidance, never for emphasis or decoration. No media ever autoplays.
Content notices before clinical images §
Anatomical and clinical images sit behind a content notice and appear only when the reader chooses “Show image”. Nothing graphic is sprung on anyone.
Nothing hidden without a reason §
Every step follows the same structure, a persistent indicator shows where the reader is in the journey, and content is never hidden without an explicit, plain-language reason.
Generous touch targets §
Every interactive control meets a minimum touch target of 44×44 pixels.
Nothing standing in the way
No accounts, no logins for patients §
A patient opens their link in the browser on their own phone. There is nothing to install, no password to remember, and no form to fill in: Patient Compass Suite does not require the patient’s name, email address, date of birth or clinical identifier.
Built and tested to standard
WCAG 2.2 AA, targeting AAA text contrast §
The patient apps are built to WCAG 2.2 Level AA as the minimum design standard, with Level AAA as the working target for body-text contrast.
Automated checks on every change §
Automated axe-core accessibility checks run in continuous integration against the canonical patient pages, in both reading modes. A critical finding blocks the change from merging.
Screen-reader testing on record §
A recorded manual screen-reader session (NVDA, August 2026) covered landmarks, skip links, focus visibility, toggle states and in-page navigation across both patient apps. Findings and methodology are documented, and we share the methodology with any external reviewer on request.
The Accessible Information Standard §
Accessible formats are one part of a provider’s wider duty under the Accessible Information Standard (DAPB1605). Our neutral guide to the standard and its six steps is at patient-compass.co.uk/accessible-information-standard-surgery.
Suggestions and comments — we genuinely want them §
If you have a suggestion or a comment about accessibility — as a patient, a relative, a clinician or a reviewer — we would really like to hear it. Nothing is too small to mention.
And if any part of a Patient Compass Suite product is hard for you to read or use, tell us what you were trying to do — with the assistive technology you use, if any. Accessibility findings are triaged like defects, not like suggestions.
Write to info@ggo-systems.com