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Halal Community Council
Check a place

HCC is getting ready to open. No place has been checked yet, and no seal has been issued. These pages describe how HCC's checks will work.

The legal set

Accessibility

Everyone should be able to look up a place, read its record and raise a concern. This page says what we build to, what we know still falls short, and how to tell us when something gets in your way.

Statement dated October 16, 2026

The standard we build to

We aim for this website to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at level AA, the widely used standard for accessible websites. It applies to every public page, the Register and every record, and the forms anyone can use: Share a concern, the notify-me list and the application to be checked.

A public record that people rely on has to be readable by everyone who relies on it, so we treat an accessibility problem as a defect to fix, not a feature to add later.

What we have done

  • Text and its background meet the AA contrast levels, in both the light and the dark appearance. The site follows your device's light or dark setting.
  • Everything works with a keyboard. A visible focus ring shows where you are, and a "Skip to content" link is the first thing on every page.
  • Each page has one main heading, with the headings below it in order, so a screen reader can move through a page by its parts.
  • Every image has a text description. Every seal image names its level or status in words.
  • Every form field has a written label, and form errors say in words what to fix.
  • Nothing depends on color alone. A record's status is written out ("Verified" or "Not currently verified" with its reason), and every fact's basis is a word: Seen, Observed or Stated.
  • Motion stops when your device asks for reduced motion, and the pointer effects switch off on touch screens.
  • Pages fit a phone screen without sideways scrolling. We check every page in the Safari engine at desktop and phone widths, in both light and dark.
  • Every printed decal, counter card and menu sticker carries the record's short web address as well as the QR code, so no one needs a camera to find the record.
  • Fonts and images come from our own server, and there are no pop-up advertisements or advertising trackers to get in the way.

What still falls short

We know of these limits, and we are working on them:

  • The print-ready seal kit files (decal, counter card and menu sticker) are made for printing, not for screen readers. Ask us, and we send the same information as plain text.
  • The business portal and the council desk are newer screens with more complex tables and forms. If any part of them does not work with the tools you use, tell us and we will help you complete the task another way while we fix it.
  • Some pages link to sites we do not control, such as state laws and certifiers' own lists. We cannot fix those sites, but we can help you find what you need from them.
  • We have not yet had the site reviewed by people who use assistive technology every day. We plan to, and we welcome your help.

Other ways to do what the site does

  • Raise a concern by email. If the concern form does not work for you, write to [email protected]. We enter it into HCC's private case system for you, and we ask you the same two questions the form asks: whether we may name you to the business, and whether we may share what you wrote.
  • A record as plain text. We can send any record or page to you as plain text by email.
  • Help with the application. If the application does not work for you, write to us and we will help you complete it.
  • A visit in person. A Cornerstone check may use a live video walkthrough. If a video walkthrough does not work for you, tell us, and we arrange the visit in person instead.

How to report a problem

  1. Write to [email protected], with "Accessibility" in the subject.
  2. Tell us the page or record, what you were trying to do, and what happened. If you use a screen reader, magnifier, voice control or other tool, tell us which one; it helps us find the cause.
  3. We acknowledge your message within 2 business days, tell you what we will fix and when, and help you do what you came to do in the meantime.

If you are not satisfied with how HCC handled your report, a line of its own for concerns about HCC itself opens when HCC's independent directors are seated, before the first check.

For businesses that show the seal

The live seal a member places on its own website carries a text description that names the level, Halal Community Council and the record number. The Seal Use Rules require members to keep it, so the seal can be read aloud as well as seen.

Review of this statement

We review this statement at least once a year, and whenever we change how the site works. When it changes, the date at the top changes with it.

Tell us what got in your way.

Every report is read by a person, and every fix makes the Register easier for the next reader.

Email us Other ways to reach us