Accessibility Statement

The Onion Foundation strives to be welcoming, transparent, and accessible to all in our work, and to build trust through clarity and openness. Onion Foundation has invested significant resources to help ensure access to our digital resources for all users, including people with disabilities.
Digital accessibility is an ongoing commitment that we make to continuously monitor, improve, and adapt our online presence, including our website, our digital publications, and our grantee portal. This effort is informed by our obligation to effective communication. In the sections below, we elaborate on the ongoing efforts that we undertake to ensure digital accessibility for all.
Onionfoundation.org Accessibility
During the redesign of our website in 2024, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) standards drove many of our decisions related to the design and development of the site. Our goal was to work towards AA compliance with WCAG 2.1.
A key element of our accessibility initiative is our engagement with a third-party accessibility consulting organization UserWay to help bring onionfoundation.org into conformance.
Our website onionfoundation.org makes available the UserWay Website Accessibility Widget, which is powered by a dedicated accessibility server. The Widget offers user-triggered enhancements that allow visitors to improve the accessibility of the site. These features will, when selected, increase font size, pause animations, change color contrast, and more. People can choose combinations that suit their needs, as required by WCAG Level AAA. We chose this widget because of the variety of enhancements it offers, as well as its ability to offer AI-powered translation into several languages commonly spoken in Maine.
The site has enabled Automated Remediation Technology (ART) for all visitors, whether they use assistive technology or not. ART does not detect Assistive Technology usage; rather, it improves accessibility for all site visitors regardless of ability by deploying remediation capabilities such as the following (not a complete list):
It generates alternative text for images and other non-text elements when not manually entered;
It improves keyboard navigation with aids such as “focus indication” and “skip links”
Digital Publications Accessibility
When publishing a document digitally, we make every effort to ensure it will be compatible with common assistive technology, including screen readers. Starting in 2025, accessibility consultants review our digital publications to identify and address any accessibility issues in the publications.
Grantee Portal Accessibility
Our grantee portal (onionfoundation.givingdata.org/portal/) and grants management system are managed by GivingData, a software firm. GivingData is actively working to make both its site and our Grantee Portal accessible to all users. Accessibility improvements are an integral part of their ongoing product development efforts. Its goal is to align with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, specifically aiming for AA compliance. In addition, Onion Foundation staff are available to provide alternatives to portal access for applications and reporting, such as using Google Document versions of forms.
Virtual Event Accessibility
When hosting meetings on virtual platforms such as Zoom, we consistently offer to make any accommodations that would enable full participation from attendees. We are prepared to offer accommodations such as closed captioning, live sign language interpretation, and meeting transcription. We will make every effort to make other accommodations as requested. Some accommodations, such as live sign language interpretation, require advance notice of at least one week.
Please Contact Us
Foundation staff are here to assist you and make your experience as smooth and easy as possible. If you experience inaccessibility interacting with our digital presence, or need information related to digital accessibility, we want to hear from you! And, we always appreciate and welcome feedback so we communicate and engage more fully with our community.
Contact Information:
Sally Struever, Grants and Office Administrator, Onion Foundation
Email: sally@onionfoundation.org
Text/Phone: 207-713-4121
Schedule a virtual meeting or phone call: https://calendar.app.google/Qb5Yy4PSzFmWeYw67

We take accessibility seriously and commit to responding to a request for accommodation or any complaint within two weeks, though we will make every attempt to respond more quickly. We do not tolerate retaliation, harassment, or intimidation against anyone who submits feedback or a complaint, or against the organization they represent. If the resolution or response is unsatisfactory or delayed, an individual may escalate the request or complaint to Diana Morris, our Executive Director, at diana@onionfoundation.org.