Gold Medal Ventures Accessibility Audit
Web Accessibility Remediation for Gold Medal Ventures website to make it conforms with the WCAG technical standards and comply with the ADA.
This Gold Medal Ventures accessibility audit and WCAG 2.1 AA remediation covered the website of General Mills’ innovation and investment arm — the home of 301 INC and G-Works, which backs and builds emerging food and consumer brands.
A venture and innovation site is built to inform and to connect: it explains what the group does, shows the portfolio of companies it backs, introduces the team, shares news, and gives founders, partners and the press a way to get in touch. Each of those is content or a form, and for a visitor using a screen reader or a keyboard, their accessibility decides whether the firm is genuinely open to every founder and partner.
Table of Contents
Why accessibility matters for a venture and innovation site
A company’s public website in the United States is itself a place of public accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III, and WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the standard regulators and courts look to. For an investor that champions inclusive, future-facing brands, the website should model the same values: a portfolio page a screen-reader user cannot parse, or a contact form a keyboard user cannot submit, sends the wrong message to exactly the founders and partners the firm wants to reach.
Scope and standard
Our Gold Medal Ventures accessibility audit assessed the site against WCAG 2.1 Level AA, mapped to ADA Title III, across the journeys that matter for an investment firm: the “what we do” and approach pages, the portfolio and exits listings, the team and about content, the news and insights, and the contact pages.
How we ran the Gold Medal Ventures accessibility audit
- Screen-reader testing with JAWS and NVDA on Windows, VoiceOver on macOS and iOS, and TalkBack on Android
- Automated audits with Deque axe, Google Lighthouse and WAVE
- Keyboard-only operation of every step, with attention to focus order and a clearly visible focus indicator
- Colour-contrast analysis, plus 400% zoom and reflow testing for low-vision users
What accessibility means on each part of the site
Because Gold Medal Ventures is an information-and-contact site rather than a shop, our Gold Medal Ventures accessibility audit focused on content and forms rather than a checkout:
- The approach and “what we do” pages need a clear heading structure and readable text, so a screen-reader user can follow the firm’s thesis quickly.
- Portfolio and exits listings need company names, logos and links presented in text and accessible markup, so the line-up is meaningful without sight.
- Team and about content needs alternative text for headshots and a logical reading order, so bios are usable by everyone.
- News and insights need correct heading levels, link names that make sense out of context, and accessible embedded media.
- Contact forms and navigation need programmatic labels, announced errors, visible focus, sufficient contrast and clean reflow at high zoom.
Outcome
This Gold Medal Ventures accessibility audit, combining manual and automated testing with remediation, brought the firm’s content, portfolio and contact journeys into line with WCAG 2.1 AA and ADA Title III expectations, so founders, partners and press using a screen reader or a keyboard can explore the firm and get in touch without barriers. Because reaching the firm is the whole point of the site, every fix was verified with assistive technology rather than assumed from an automated pass.