Accessibility Statement

Last updated on September 17 2025

Accessibility Statement regarding the Palais des Thés Website.

This is an accessibility statement from Palais des Thés.

Measures to support accessibility

Palais des Thés is committed to improving digital accessibility and offering an inclusive experience to all users. Since early 2023, we have launched a dedicated accessibility roadmap for our websites, with the support of Tanaguru, a French agency specialized in digital accessibility.

The following actions have been implemented as part of this initiative:

Including accessibility as part of our mission statement
Providing continual accessibility training for our teams
Assigning clear accessibility goals and responsibilities
Integrating accessibility into our digital roadmap
Collaborating with a specialized agency (Tanaguru) to guide our improvements
Conducting functional accessibility audits and workshops (UX, technical, strategic)
Implementing accessibility fixes across key templates and journeys
Planning further evaluations and enhancements in the coming years

This is a progressive approach, based on evaluation, correction, and continuous improvement.

Conformance status

The website https://us.palaisdesthes.com/en_us/ is currently not compliant with the French accessibility standard RGAA 4.1.

An additional full audit is currently taking place to expand the current scope, and update our accessibility action plan accordingly.

Inaccessible content

Criteria 1.2 : Is each decorative image/ visual enhancement correctly ignored by assistive technologies?
Criteria 1.3 : For each information-carrying image with a text alternative, is this alternative relevant (except in special cases)?
Criteria 2.2 : For each embedded item with a placement title, is that placement title relevant?
Criteria 3.1 : On every web page, information should not be conveyed solely through color. Is this rule being respected?
Criteria 3.2 : On each web page, is the contrast between the color of the text and the color of its background sufficiently high (except in special cases)?
Criteria 3.3 : On each web page, are the colors used in interface components or graphic elements carrying information sufficiently contrasted (except in special cases)?
Criteria 5.3 : On each web page, are the colors used in interface components or graphic elements carrying information sufficiently contrasted (except in special cases)?
Criteria 5.7 : For each data table, is the appropriate technique used to associate each cell with its headers (except in special cases)?
Criteria 5.8 : Each layout table should not use elements specific to data tables. Is this rule respected?
Criteria 6.1 : Is each link explicit (except in special cases)?
Criteria 6.2 : On each web page, does each link have a label?
Criteria 7.1 : Is each script, if necessary, compatible with assistive technologies?
Criteria 7.3 : Is each script controllable by the keyboard and any pointing device (except in special cases)?
Criteria 7.4 : For each script that initiates a context switch, is the user notified or does he have control over it?
Criteria 7.5 : On each web page, are status messages correctly rendered by assistive technologies?
Criteria 8.6 : For each web page that has a page title, is that title relevant?
Criteria 8.7 : On each web page, is each language change indicated in the source code (except in special cases)?
Criteria 8.9 : On every web page, tags should not be used solely for presentation purposes. Is this rule being respected?
Criteria 9.1 : On each web page, is the information structured by the appropriate use of headings?
Criteria 9.2 : On each web page, is the structure of the document consistent (except in special cases)?
Criteria 9.3 : On each web page, is each list structured correctly?
Criteria 9.4 : On each web page, is each citation correctly indicated?
Criteria 10.1 : Are style sheets used on the website to control the presentation of information?
Criteria 10.2 : On each web page, does the visible content carrying information remain present when the style sheets are deactivated?
Criteria 10.4 : On each web page, does the text remain readable when the font size is increased to at least 200% (except in special cases)?
Criteria 10.6 : On each web page, is every link whose nature is not obvious visible in relation to the surrounding text?
Criteria 10.7 : On each web page, for each element receiving focus, is the focus capture visible?
Criteria 10.8 : For each web page, is hidden content intended to be ignored by assistive technologies?
Criteria 10.9 : On every web page, information should not be conveyed solely by shape, size, or position. Is this rule being respected?
Criteria 10.11 : For each web page, can the content be presented without resorting to vertical scrolling for a window with a height of 256px or horizontal scrolling for a window with a width of 320px (except in special cases)?
Criteria 10.12 : On each web page, can text spacing properties be redefined by the user without loss of content or functionality (except in special cases)?
Criteria 10.13 : On each web page, can the additional content appearing when focusing on or hovering over an interface component be controlled by the user (except in special cases)?
Criteria 10.14 : On each web page, can additional content appearing via CSS styles only be made visible by the keyboard and any pointing device?
Criteria 11.1 : Does each form field have a label?
Criteria 11.11 : In each form, is the input control used appropriately (except in special cases)?
Criteria 11.13 : Can the purpose of an input field be inferred to facilitate automatic field filling with user data?
Criteria 11.2 : Is each label associated with a relevant form field (except in special cases)?
Criteria 11.5 : In each form, are fields of the same nature grouped together, if necessary?
Criteria 11.9 : In each form, is the title of each button relevant (except in special cases)?
Criteria 12.11 : On each web page, is additional content appearing when hovering, focusing on, or activating an interface component accessible by keyboard, if necessary?
Criteria 12.3 : Can the purpose of an input field be inferred to facilitate automatic field filling with user data?
Criteria 12.4 : In each set of pages, is the "site map" page reachable in the same way?
Criteria 12.6 : Can content grouping areas present in multiple web pages (header, main navigation, main content, footer, and search engine areas) be reached or avoided?
Criteria 12.8 : On each web page, is the tab order consistent?

Additional accessibility considerations

Despite current non-conformities, significant improvements have been made since 2023:

Improved VoiceOver and screen reader compatibility
Reworking of navigation structure, tab order, and skip links
Redesign of core components (menu navigation, banners, search bar) to support their accessibility
Color contrast and hierarchy adjustments for better visual comfort
Accessible forms (account creation, login, checkout fields)
Technical corrections applied across multiple pages (see details below)

These improvements were guided by audit results and expert workshops.

Feedback

We value your feedback and welcome reports on any accessibility barriers you may encounter while using our website https://us.palaisdesthes.com/en_us/.

You can contact us via:

Phone: +1 (212) 813-2882
E-mail: contact@palaisdesthes.com
Postal Address: 107 Spring Street 2nd floor - New York, NY 10012
Online form: https://us.palaisdesthes.com/en_us/contact/

We aim to respond within 48 hours.

Compatibility with browsers and assistive technology

The Palais des Thés website is designed to be compatible with the following assistive technologies:

Modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)
Assistive tools: VoiceOver, NVDA, JAWS support
Keyboard-only navigation (in progress)

Limitations may occur with:

Disabled firewall/JS may break certain functionalities (carousels, sliders)
Older versions of mobile SLT (< iOS 14, Android 10)

Technical specifications

Accessibility of the Palais des Thés website relies on the following technologies to work with the particular combination of web browser and any assistive technologies or plugins installed on your computer:

HTML, CSS, Javascript
WAI-ARIA / Aria live regions

These technologies are essential for meeting the specified accessibility standards.

Limitations and alternatives

Despite our efforts to ensure accessibility of Palais des Thés's website, there may be some limitations. Below is a description of known limitations, and potential solutions. Please contact us if you observe an additional issue to the below.

Known limitations for Palais des Thés:

Partial audit only: The September 2024 audit covered 5 sample pages (homepage, category page, product page, cart, login).
Checkout: This flow has not yet been audited due to its complexity but will shortly be examined as the next step in our accessibility journey.
Third-party features: Some widgets and external modules may not be fully accessible.

Please contact us if you encounter an issue not listed here.

Assessment approach

Accessibility of the Palais des Thés website has been evaluated through:

A partial RGAA 4.1 audit conducted in September 2024
Internal testing and implementation of accessibility fixes
Ongoing collaboration with our partners and development teams

Formal approval of this accessibility statement

This statement was created on 21 July 2025 using the W3C Accessibility Statement Generator Tool and enriched with internal documentation and accessibility actions carried out by Palais des Thés.

More about Palais des Thés and Accessibility

Our commitment to improving website accessibility

At Palais des Thés, our mission has always been to make tea accessible to everyone. This commitment extends beyond our boutiques and products, and this applies to our website as well. To us, accessibility is not only a legal requirement, it is above all a matter of inclusion and respect for all our customers.

The turning point

In 2021 as well as in 2023, we received feedback from customers highlighting the difficulties faced by people with disabilities when trying to navigate our website or complete a purchase. These complaints pointed out issues such as :

The inability for blind users to access the shopping cart and checkout
Missing alt text on images
Inaccessible drop-down menus
Lack of navigation links and keyboard access
Form labeling issues

First step: working with experts

In early 2023, we began with a first audit conducted by a U.S. partner to identify the main obstacles. Soon after, we decided to take a more structured approach and partnered with Tanaguru, a French company specialized in digital accessibility. With this agency, we carried out several key steps :

Awareness workshop (February 2023) to engage our teams
Functional and UX audit to identify barriers
Strategic and technical workshops (March–May 2023) to plan concrete improvements
Partial audit (September 2024) on 5 key pages (homepage, category page, product page, cart, login).

Concrete improvements so far

Since 2023, our design, development, and e-commerce teams have implemented many accessibility fixes, including :

Making the main navigation menu fully accessible
Improving color contrast and keyboard navigation
Enhancing accessibility throughout the checkout process (delivery, payment, forms)
Adding alt text to images and structural elements for screen readers
Creating a new accessible slider on the homepage
Improving VoiceOver support and focus management across key interactions.

What's next ?

Our main purpose is to progress step by step. So far, we have managed to reach our goal to publish an accessibility statement on our US website by June 2025 to highlight the progress made so far and are now working towards the next updates.

We understand accessibility needs to be perceived as an ongoing journey, not a one-time project.