Accessibility

We want everyone to be able to use the marketplace well, whether with a mouse, keyboard, screen reader, magnification or on a phone. This statement covers the website getdogwalkers.com, the marketplace at marketplace.getdogwalkers.com and the client accounts and client portals at app.getdogwalkers.com. It follows the German Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG), the European standard EN 301 549 and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at level AA.

Our service

getdogwalkers.com presents the GetDogWalkers app for businesses; there you can pre-register, read the help and write to us. On the marketplace you find dog care businesses near you: dog walking, dog sitting, dog boarding, dog daycare and dog training. This is how it works:

• Search: you enter the service, postcode or location, date and dogs and get a list of matching businesses. We explain filters, ranking and labelled ads on the page How we rank.
• View a profile: each profile shows services and prices, free appointments, rules, reviews and whether the business offers its services as a trader.
• Book or request: you choose the appointment and dogs, enter your contact details and see the total price before paying. With “Book and pay” you go to payment with our payment provider Stripe or book with payment on site. You then receive a confirmation by email with a link to your booking, where you can manage, cancel or withdraw from it.
• Meet and greet and messages: a free meet and greet and questions to the business work through forms on the marketplace; you receive answers by email and through a personal link.
• Account and client portal: with an optional client account you see all bookings in one place. A business’s client portal shows appointments, contracts and invoices that the business shares.

Compliance status

Based on our own assessment, the website and the marketplace partially conforms to WCAG 2.1 AA. We test every change automatically with axe-core (rules for WCAG 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2 at levels A and AA) on a selection of pages at phone and desktop width, and manually with the keyboard. The points listed below are not yet fully implemented. No independent audit has taken place so far.

What we have implemented

• Every page has a correct language setting, a “Skip to content” link and a clear heading structure.
• Search, profile, booking form, meet and greet, messages and withdrawal can be fully operated with the keyboard and show a visible focus. Calendar and appointment choice are labelled buttons.
• Form fields have visible labels. Error messages appear at the field, are announced and describe what to do.
• Text and background have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1, large headings at least 3:1, in the light and the dark design.
• Pages adapt to any screen width from 320 pixels. Wide tables scroll within their frame; the frame can be reached with the keyboard.
• The ad film on the getdogwalkers.com home page has captions (German, English, French, Dutch) and the spoken text below it to expand; the marketplace films have German and English subtitles. Background videos play without sound and can be paused; if “reduce motion” is on, we do without animations.
• Profile pictures of Google reviews only load when you explicitly request them.

Known limitations

• Payment at Stripe: the payment page is provided by our payment provider Stripe. Its accessibility is not in our hands.
• Time limit for payment: we hold your appointment for 30 minutes while you pay. If the time runs out, you can choose the appointment again if it is still free.
• Security check in forms: pre-registration and the support form use Cloudflare Turnstile against spam. If the check fails, you can reach us by phone at +49 6251 9743990.
• Invoices as PDF: invoices that businesses provide through the client portal are PDF files without structure tags. The details are also in the email and the portal.
• Businesses’ content: photos and texts in profiles are added by the businesses themselves. We ask for image descriptions but cannot check every one.
• App screenshots: the app screenshots on getdogwalkers.com are images. Their essential content is in the alt text and the surrounding text, but the individual labels within the screenshots cannot be read as text.
• Videos: background videos are footage without speech or essential information and need no captions. There is no audio description of the ad film; what it shows is described in the surrounding text.
• Marquees: some headings scroll across the screen. With “reduce motion” they stand still. The text is always fully available to screen readers.
• Languages: the marketplace, help centre, support and legal texts are available in German and English, the website for businesses also in French and Dutch.

We are continuing to work on these points.

The app

The iOS app GetDogWalkers supports the iOS accessibility features, in particular VoiceOver, Dynamic Type up to the largest accessibility sizes, dark mode and “Reduce motion”. The Android app GetDogWalkers is built with Android’s standard controls; we will add a statement on its accessibility after testing.

Report a barrier and feedback

Have you noticed a barrier, or do you need content in another form? Write to us; we usually reply within two weeks:

Cogswell IT · Joshua Cogswell
Georg-Moller-Weg 29, 64625 Bensheim, Germany
Online: via our contact form
Phone: +49 6251 9743990

Enforcement procedure

If you are not satisfied with our answer, you can contact the competent market surveillance authority: the market surveillance authority of the German federal states for the accessibility of products and services (Marktüberwachungsstelle der Länder für die Barrierefreiheit von Produkten und Dienstleistungen, MLBF AöR), Carl-Miller-Straße 6, 39112 Magdeburg, Germany, email [email protected], www.mlbf-barrierefrei.de.

How this statement was prepared

We prepared this statement in October 2026 and updated it on 11 November 2026 based on a self-assessment and automated tests. We review it when the website or the marketplace changes significantly, and at least once a year.