Accessibility
Our commitment to an accessible Credit Consensus Index.
Credit Consensus Index is committed to making our website and consumer-credit research accessible to as many people as reasonably possible, including people with disabilities.
Our accessibility goal in one sentence
Make consumer-credit research understandable and usable by as many people as reasonably possible, including people who access the web using assistive technologies.
Our accessibility goal
WCAG 2.2 Level AA is our ongoing reference point.
WCAG provides internationally recognized guidance for making web content more accessible to people with a wide range of disabilities.
This goal does not mean every page, feature, historical item, advertisement, or third-party integration will always satisfy every criterion. Websites, technology, and third-party tools change. When we identify a meaningful barrier within areas we control, we aim to investigate and address it.
Accessibility is more than a compliance statement.
Our goal is not simply to publish this page. We want navigation, research articles, ranking tables, comparison charts, forms, buttons, links, disclosures, methodology pages, mobile experiences, and interactive components to be usable.
- Incorporated into product design
- Reviewed as the site evolves
- Grounded in clarity, transparency, usability, and access
Our accessibility principles
Four principles guide our work.
We use the WCAG principles as a practical framework for designing and maintaining the site.
Perceivable
Information should be presented in ways users can perceive through different senses and technologies.
Operable
Users should be able to navigate and interact with the site through different input methods.
Understandable
Content and interfaces should be organized and written in ways that are reasonably understandable.
Robust
Technology should work with commonly used browsers and assistive technologies where reasonably possible.
Accessible by design
Navigation, content, and data should work for more people.
Financial information should not become unnecessarily difficult to access because of how a website is designed.
Keyboard navigation
Important navigation, links, buttons, forms, disclosures, and research controls should work without requiring a mouse. Focus should move logically through the page.
Visible focus indicators
Keyboard users should be able to see which interactive element has focus. We do not intentionally remove focus indicators for aesthetic reasons.
Skip navigation
Where appropriate, users can bypass repetitive navigation and move directly to primary content, especially on long research pages.
Semantic structure
Page titles, headings, sections, lists, links, and tables should form a logical hierarchy that supports screen readers, keyboard users, and people scanning long articles.
Clear link text
Links should communicate their destination or purpose without relying on vague language such as ‘Click here.’
Images and alternative text
Meaningful images should have useful text alternatives. Decorative images may be hidden from assistive technologies when they add no information.
Charts and visualizations
Material findings shown in charts, such as ranking changes, recommendation coverage, and platform agreement, should also be available in text or tabular form where practical.
Accessible ranking tables
Headers, rows, columns, and values should be structured so their relationships can be understood by assistive technology, with responsive alternatives where needed.
Color and contrast
Important meaning should not depend on color alone. We aim for readable contrast among text, backgrounds, controls, labels, and indicators.
Zoom and responsive design
Important content and functionality should remain usable with reasonable text enlargement, browser zoom, display scaling, and across common desktop and mobile screens.
Readable content
We use descriptive headings, manageable sections, understandable language, clear warnings, and examples where useful. Cognitive accessibility matters alongside technical accessibility.
Financial terminology
When terms such as APR, FICO Score, credit utilization, debt-to-income ratio, or origination fee are necessary, we aim to explain them in plain language.
Interaction and media
Clear controls and useful feedback.
Interfaces should explain what they need, what happened, and how a user can continue.
Forms and errors
Forms should use visible labels, clear instructions, required-field identification, logical keyboard order, and meaningful error messages that explain how to correct a problem.
Authentication
If user accounts or authentication are introduced, accessibility will be considered in sign-in and account-recovery experiences.
Controls and target size
Buttons and controls should have meaningful labels and reasonably sized targets for touchscreens, alternative pointing devices, and users with limited motor precision.
Motion and animation
Significant movement should account for people affected by excessive motion, and decorative animation should not interfere with access to research.
Video and audio
Where practical and appropriate, videos, interviews, presentations, and audio may be supported with captions, transcripts, descriptive text, or written summaries.
Embedded media
A third-party player may control some accessibility features. We can still improve access to its information through captions, transcripts, or summaries where practical.
Commercial experiences
Disclosures and privacy controls should remain accessible.
Commercial content should not be made less noticeable or less usable for people with disabilities. Independent research and advertising should remain distinguishable.
Affiliate links
The commercial nature of a link should not prevent access. Affiliate disclosures should be readable, understandable, available to assistive technology, and appropriately located.
Advertising
Advertising should remain distinguishable from independent research. We aim to avoid unnecessary barriers in advertising under our direct control.
Pop-ups and overlays
Where we control overlays, users should be able to understand their purpose, navigate them by keyboard, find and activate the close control, and return to underlying content.
Cookie and privacy controls
Cookie preferences, consent controls, Your Privacy Choices, and opt-out mechanisms should be usable with reasonable keyboard and assistive-technology methods where practical.
Important disclosures
Affiliate compensation, advertising, financial risks, human review, and research limitations should not be intentionally hidden from users with disabilities.
Accessible research
Important findings should not exist only in a visual format.
Transparency is central to Credit Consensus Index. Readers should be able to understand the methodology, evidence, limitations, and conclusions without depending on screenshots or a special interface.
Methodology and policies
Research Methodology, How We Rank, Platforms We Analyze, Data & Research Limitations, Editorial Standards, Human Review Policy, and Corrections Policy should not require a special visual interface.
AI-generated research
Raw AI output can be difficult to access. Published research should be organized into accessible text, headings, lists, and tables rather than relying exclusively on screenshots.
Screenshots
Screenshots may support evidence, illustration, or historical documentation, but material findings should also have a usable text presentation where reasonably possible.
PDFs and downloads
We aim to consider accessibility when creating reports, datasets, summaries, and other downloads. If a document is difficult to access, contact us for a reasonable alternative format.
Third-party content and services
Some experiences are outside our direct control.
Advertising networks, affiliate providers, video platforms, embedded tools, forms, financial providers, and social media services may control parts of their own accessibility experience.
If a barrier appears inside a third-party integration on our site, we still welcome a report. External lenders, card issuers, credit repair providers, debt relief companies, and monitoring services maintain their own accessibility practices, which Credit Consensus Index cannot guarantee.
Testing is not one automated score.
Accessibility review may combine automated testing, manual review, keyboard testing, screen-reader or assistive-technology testing, visual review, and user feedback. Different methods identify different barriers.
Automated tools are useful, but cannot detect every issue. A perfect automated score does not guarantee an accessible experience for every user.
An ongoing process
Accessibility requires continued maintenance.
CreditConsensusIndex.com will continue to change as we add research, categories, tools, charts, data, commercial features, and interactive components.
A change that improves one area can create a barrier elsewhere. Different disabilities, assistive technologies, browsers, devices, and personal settings also create different needs. WCAG is a valuable framework, but cannot anticipate every person's experience. We welcome feedback that identifies barriers our testing did not catch.
Report an accessibility problem
Tell us when something prevents access.
You do not need to disclose a disability, pay, subscribe, join an affiliate program, or create a paid account to report an accessibility issue.
If a barrier prevents access to important information, we will make reasonable efforts to provide it another way while investigating. Depending on the material, that may include plain text, email, accessible web content, or another usable electronic format.
Report an accessibility barrierWhat to include
- Page
- The URL where you experienced the problem.
- Problem
- What prevented access or made the experience difficult.
- Technology
- If relevant, the browser, device, screen reader, or assistive technology you used.
- Preferred format
- If you need the information another way, tell us what format would be useful.
Specific reports can help us investigate efficiently, but any good-faith accessibility feedback is welcome.
Accessibility requests and privacy
We only need information that helps us investigate.
Information submitted about an accessibility issue may be used to investigate the problem, communicate with you, improve the website, and document remediation.
We do not require medical documentation to receive a report. Personal information submitted through accessibility communications is handled according to our Privacy Policy.
Read our Privacy PolicyUpdates to this statement
We may update this page as the site changes, accessibility standards evolve, new technologies are introduced, issues are identified, and our practices improve. The last-updated date reflects meaningful changes to this statement.
Accessibility statement
WCAG 2.2 Level AA remains an ongoing goal.
This statement is not a representation that every page, feature, document, advertisement, third-party integration, or historical element currently achieves perfect conformance with every accessibility criterion. If you encounter a barrier within CreditConsensusIndex.com, please contact us. We welcome feedback and will make reasonable efforts to investigate issues within the portions of the website we control.