Accessibility statement

What this statement covers

The statement covers the nes-defense.com website in all of its language and market versions: Hebrew, English for Israel, and international English. It includes the home page, the community area, the magazine, the library, the digital course area, the ranking, the account area, the purchase page, the sign-up and contact forms, and the legal pages.

The NES DEFENSE app is in development and has not yet been published to the app stores. This statement does not cover it. When it is published we will update this statement, add a dedicated section on the app's accessibility, and publish the statement inside the app itself.

Two components on the site are operated for us in an outside supplier's own code: the payment step, shown in a frame embedded in our own purchase page, and the course lesson videos, which are hosted on an external video service. Both are described in the limitations section below.

The information here is correct as of the update date at the top of the page, and it rests on the internal review described in the periodic review section.

Conformance level and standard

The site is built to level AA of Israeli Standard IS 5568 Part 1, September 2023 edition, which replaced the May 2021 edition. Our conformance to that level is partial: the defects we know about are set out in the limitations section, among them insufficient colour contrast in the accent colour, the absence of an image description field for pictures uploaded by community members, and video content without captions. We therefore do not claim full AA conformance for the pages and content where those defects exist.

The Israeli standard adopts the W3C guidelines document Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 of 11 December 2008, at http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/REC-WCAG20-20081211/, subject to national changes and additions. The level required by law is AA of that standard, and that is the level we work towards. We do not claim conformance with WCAG 2.1, because it is not what Israeli law requires.

We do not claim the site is free of every defect. What we know about is set out in the limitations section, and what we do not know about we would like to hear. These are the national changes the Israeli standard makes to WCAG that are relevant to us:

• Success criterion 2.4.10, section headings, moved from level AAA to level AA.
• Success criteria 1.2.1 to 1.2.3, prerecorded media, including captions and a media alternative, moved from level A to level AA.
• Success criteria 1.2.4 and 1.2.5 moved from level AA to level AAA, and are therefore outside this statement.
• Success criterion 3.1.2, language of parts, does not apply under the Israeli standard.

Technologies this statement relies upon

The site runs measurement and advertising tools, and all of them are subject to the same consent mechanism shown in the banner: today Google Analytics 4 only, loaded through the gtag.js snippet, and later we may add the Meta pixel for Facebook and Instagram and the TikTok pixel. Such a tool operates, reads or writes information on your device only in line with the choice recorded for you, and in any case none of them is needed in order to browse the site or use the accessibility toolbar, and blocking them does not affect any accessibility feature.

• On the website: HTML, CSS, JavaScript and SVG. Some components, including the accessibility toolbar and the lesson player, need JavaScript enabled in the browser.
• HTML5 video served from our own site on the home page, and embedded frames from an external video service on the home page, in the library and in the course area.
• A light WebGL layer behind the home page and one Lottie animation on the contact page. None of these carries information that is not also available as text.
• The statement refers to current versions of the common browsers and to the assistive technologies built into them and into the operating systems.

The accessibility toolbar on the site

On every page of the site, in the bottom left corner, there is an accessibility button that opens a settings panel. The panel opens and closes from the keyboard and closes with Esc. The mode buttons in it carry a spoken label and announce to the screen reader whether they are on. The text enlargement controls carry a spoken label, but the step currently selected is not announced, and we are fixing that.

• Text enlargement in four steps, up to 150 percent. The setting changes the document's base size, so it reaches some of the text on the site but not all of it, as set out in the limitations section.
• High contrast mode: black background, white text and a yellow accent colour. Images are muted in this mode so they do not glare.
• Readable font: a switch to a standard typeface, wider word spacing and line spacing, and the removal of the all-caps and wide letter spacing used as a design device.
• Underlined links.
• Reduced motion: transition animations on the site are stopped, the opening video on the home page is not shown at all, and the moving backdrop freezes.
• A reset button, which appears once you have changed any setting and returns every setting to its normal state, and a link to this statement.

Where the settings are kept

Your choice in the toolbar is saved in the browser you made it in, and is reapplied on every page and every visit. It is stored on the device rather than on your account, so it has to be set again in another browser or on another device. If the browser blocks storage, for example in private browsing, the setting still applies to the page you are on.

What has been done on the site

• Full keyboard navigation, with a visible two pixel focus indicator around every interactive element, offset from the element so it stays legible on dark backgrounds too.
• A hierarchical heading structure, one main heading per page, and section headings marked up as headings. The menu is marked up as a dedicated navigation region inside the site header. The placement of that header inside the main content region is a known defect, and it is set out in the limitations section.
• Page language and writing direction declared at document level, so a screen reader pronounces Hebrew and English correctly and in the right direction.
• Images that carry information the surrounding text does not repeat are given alternative text. Images that only repeat the heading or the name beside them are marked decorative and hidden from screen readers.
• Forms on the site have visible labels linked to their fields, an explanation of fields that need a particular format, and worded error messages announced to screen readers the moment they appear.
• The operating system's reduced motion setting is honoured across most of the site, including for animations driven by code rather than by the browser. The exceptions are set out in the limitations section.
• The lesson player is ours: every control in it is keyboard operable and carries a spoken label. The captions position for lessons is set out in the limitations section.
• No information is conveyed by colour alone. The contrast limitations we know about are set out in the limitations section.

Known limitations and alternative arrangements

We would rather tell you what is not finished than make a sweeping claim. These are the limitations we know about as of the update date, each with the alternative arrangement we offer. To take up an alternative arrangement, contact us through the contact form on this site, and we will handle your report as described in the reporting section below.

• The toolbar's text enlargement changes the document's base size, so it reaches some of the text on the site but not all of it. We are converting the remaining text sizes to relative units. In the meantime, the browser's own page zoom enlarges everything on the page.
• The site's accent colour, used for links and buttons, does not reach the contrast ratio required for normal size text on a white background, and neither does some secondary text shown at reduced opacity. We are fixing this. Until then, the high contrast mode in the accessibility toolbar renders the site as a black background, white text and a yellow accent.
• The toolbar's reduced motion button and the operating system's reduced motion setting both now stop the motion on the home page: the opening video is not rendered at all, and the moving backdrop freezes, including the thin grain layer that used to keep animating. The video and the backdrop are purely decorative, they are hidden from screen readers, and they carry no information that is not also in the text on the page. Interface animations driven by code rather than by the browser honour the operating system setting, but are not yet stopped by the toolbar button, and we are completing that.
• Images uploaded by community members are currently shown without alternative text. We are adding an accessible description field in which the uploader can describe the image, as part of the accessible infrastructure we provide for other people's content. Until then, if an image in the community is keeping information from you, contact us and we will describe it for you or remove it.
• Content written by community members, including posts and comments, is not edited or produced by us, and we cannot guarantee that all of it is accessible. The infrastructure it is shown in is our responsibility, and a report about a specific item is handled individually.
• All course lessons are currently hosted with the external video service. On those lessons captions are on by default and there is a button to turn them on and off, but not every lesson has captions. If a lesson is served from our own servers in future, it will have no captions and no captions button until we add them. The external player component itself is not fully under our control, but responsibility to you for the accessibility of the service stays with us even when a component is operated for us by an outside supplier. You can ask us for a written alternative to the content of a particular lesson and we will supply it.
• The firearm licence forms available to download from the site are blank forms published by the government ministry, not documents we produced, and they may not meet the requirements of IS 5568 Part 2, which covers the accessibility of digital documents online. If you need the content of a form in an accessible format, or help filling it in, contact us.
• The payment step is shown in a frame embedded in our own purchase page and is operated for us by the payment provider in its own code. We control the details sent to it and part of its styling, but not its internal code or the accessibility of the controls inside it. Responsibility to you for the accessibility of the service stays with us even when the service is delivered through people who are not our employees, and we are working with the provider to fix the defects. If the payment step is not accessible to you, contact us and we will complete the purchase with you another way at no extra charge.

Accessibility of training at the ranges

Our training takes place at ranges we neither own nor operate. Responsibility for the accessibility of the building, the parking, the toilets and the access routes lies with the owner or operator of the place. Responsibility for the accessibility of the service we provide stays with us, including choosing a suitable facility and providing alternative accessibility where a facility is not suitable, and we are not disclaiming it.

The level of physical accessibility varies from facility to facility. Some facilities are not accessible, or are exempt from accessibility adjustments. Before you sign up for a training session you can contact us, and we will check the range's accessibility arrangements and give them to you, including where the answer is that there is no arrangement. If the information we were given turns out to be wrong and you cannot take part, we will offer you another date or another facility and will not charge you.

If the facility where a session is planned does not suit you, we will offer an alternative: training at another range whose accessibility does suit you, another date, one to one support, or a change to how the session runs. If we cannot provide an alternative, we will say so plainly and will not charge you.

Adjustments for instruction, the course and training

If you need an accessibility adjustment in order to take part in training or to study the course, ask us for it through the contact form on this site at least 14 days before the session or before the course begins, and we will provide it. For a request that arrives later we will do what we can. If a particular adjustment is not possible, we will tell you so in advance and before you pay. These are the adjustments you can ask for:

• Written material in an accessible digital file or read aloud.
• Printed material in large print, and in simplified language where that is possible.
• A transcript or a written alternative to content delivered orally or on video.
• Spoken description of visual demonstrations during instruction.
• Adjustment of the pace and structure of the instruction, as far as it does not compromise the safety rules at the range.

No charge and no certificate

Accessibility adjustments are provided free of charge, and we do not add a fee for making them. We do not require you to produce a certificate, a medical note or any document evidencing a disability as a condition for receiving an adjustment.

Safety instructions at a range cannot be waived, and in some cases they may limit the kind of adjustment we can provide. Where that happens we will explain what is possible and what is not before you pay.

Reporting an accessibility problem

Come across something on the site or at a training session that is not accessible to you? We want to know and to fix it. You can reach us through the contact form on this site, and so that we can deal with it quickly, tell us what you were trying to do, on which page, in which browser or on which device, and with which assistive technology if you were using one.

We will acknowledge your report and reply on the substance within seven business days.

A defect on the site we will fix as soon as possible and no later than sixty days from the report, in line with the correction period the regulations set for internet services. For a defect in the service at a range, or in a component a third party operates for us, we will give you a repair timetable within seven business days.

Until the fix is complete we will offer you an alternative arrangement so you can still receive the service, and if we cannot provide one we will say so plainly and will not charge you.

Temporary interruption of an accessibility arrangement

If an accessibility arrangement we provide is interrupted for more than a week, for example a fault in the accessibility toolbar or a change at a facility where training is held, we will publish a notice on this page, state what the alternative is, and put up a sign at the place where the service is given.

Periodic review and updating of this statement

We review the accessibility adjustments on the site and in the service periodically, and at least once every five years. The most recent review was carried out on the update date shown at the top of this page, and it was an internal review of the website code and of how the site actually behaves. The next one is planned within five years of that date, or sooner on any material change to the site or the service.

The results of the review are available for inspection on request through the contact form on this site. This statement is updated on every material change, and the date of the last update appears at the top of the page.

Accessibility contact

The company currently employs fewer than 25 people, counting workers supplied through manpower and service contractors, and is therefore not required to appoint an accessibility coordinator under regulation 91 of the Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities (Accessibility Adjustments to Service) Regulations, 5773-2013. Even so, we have a contact person responsible for accessibility matters, and reports on the subject go straight to them. You can reach them through the contact form on this site.

If the number of people the company employs rises above the threshold set in the regulations, we will appoint an accessibility coordinator and publish their name, office location and contact details here.