Accessibility: D&M Emerging Artist Awards · Through the Looking Glass

In short

What this page commits the Foundation to

If the site is a barrier, the site is the problem

This site aims to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA. It has not been independently audited, and the gaps we know about are listed below rather than left for you to find.

If anything here stops you applying, being referred, or registering as a Scout, write to [email protected] and we will take it another way. You do not have to explain why.

The standard we work to

WCAG 2.1 Level AA, partially conformant

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are the international benchmark for making a website usable by people with disabilities. Level AA is the tier most public bodies and most funders treat as the working minimum.

This site was designed and built against those guidelines rather than corrected toward them afterwards, and it was checked page by page by the team that built it. On that basis the Foundation considers the site partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 Level AA: partially conformant because parts of the site do not yet fully conform, and those parts are named in the next section.

There has been no third-party audit, no assistive-technology user testing, and no certification of any kind. We say that plainly because a badge claiming full conformance is the version of this page that helps nobody, and because an open call that asks artists to trust it with their work should not open by overstating itself.

What is missing

The list we would rather you heard from us

These are the gaps known to us at the date shown at the foot of this page. A statement that lists only strengths is advertising.

No independent audit

The checks behind this page were carried out by the team that built the site, not by someone with nothing invested in the answer, and should not be read as an audit.

No user testing

The site has not been tested by people who use screen readers, switch access, voice control or magnification daily. Building to a guideline and being usable by a person are related but not identical, and only the first has been done.

The opening film is not captioned

The film is not yet finished. It carries no spoken word and no information that exists only in sound, and it can be skipped entirely. Captions and a text description will be added before the final edit goes live. [ to be confirmed once the final film is supplied ]

The date of birth field

The application form asks for a date of birth using the browser's own date control. Those controls behave inconsistently across browsers and assistive software. If it is difficult to use, the address below will take the date from you directly.

Reduced motion on a wide screen

Where a visitor has asked their device to reduce motion, the opening film is replaced by a still image. On a wide screen that still is cropped for a narrow one, so it is displayed larger than intended.

Applicants' own work samples

The video and written work artists submit belongs to them and reaches us as they made it. The Foundation does not caption, transcribe or describe applicants' work samples, and no artist is judged on whether their submission carries captions.

Anywhere we have not looked

This list is what we know. If you find something that is not on it, the section below is not a formality. It is how this list gets longer and then gets shorter.

If this site is a barrier

Then the site is the problem, and we will work around it

If anything here stops you from applying, being referred, or registering as a Scout, write to [email protected] and we will take it another way.

That means what it says. We can take an application over email, in a document, or by another arrangement that works for you. You do not have to disclose a diagnosis, describe a disability, or justify the request. Telling us the form is not working for you is enough.

Please reach us as early as you can, and before the closing date of 12 August 2026, so there is time to arrange it properly. An application taken this way is read on exactly the same terms as one submitted through the form, by the same Advisory & Selection Committee, against the same criteria.

The same applies to any other stage. If the Creative Submission, a conversation, or the event itself presents a barrier, tell us and we will look at what can be done.

Telling us about a problem

We would rather know

If something on this site does not work for you, write to [email protected]. Tell us the page, what you were trying to do, and what happened. If you know what you are using to browse, that helps, but it is not required.

We aim to reply within five working days, and to tell you either what we have fixed or when we expect to. Where something cannot be fixed quickly, we will offer another way to do what you were trying to do, and we will add it to the list above.

This statement applies to dmhalloween.com and to the application and referral forms hosted on it. It was prepared for The Daniel and Marcella Nutkis Charitable Foundation by the team that builds and operates the site, from a page-by-page review of the site itself rather than from a template. It will be reviewed when the opening film is finished, when the application period closes, and whenever a report tells us something on it is no longer true. Read alongside the Privacy Policy, the Terms & Conditions and the Terms of Use.