Skip to content
Arklow Heritage Museum
  • Home
  • About Us
    • History
  • News
  • Arklow Town
  • Visit Us
  • Gallery
  • Discover
    • Boatbuilding
    • Wrecks & Rescues
    • Curiosities
    • Folklore
    • Schools & Kids
    • Sails & Terminology
  • Donate
  • Contact Us
Book Now
Book Now
0
Arklow Heritage Museum
  • Home
  • About Us
    • History
  • News
  • Arklow Town
  • Visit Us
  • Gallery
  • Discover
    • Boatbuilding
    • Wrecks & Rescues
    • Curiosities
    • Folklore
    • Schools & Kids
    • Sails & Terminology
  • Donate
  • Contact Us
Book Now
Book Now
0
  • Home
  • About Us
    • History
  • News
  • Arklow Town
  • Visit Us
  • Gallery
  • Discover
    • Boatbuilding
    • Wrecks & Rescues
    • Curiosities
    • Folklore
    • Schools & Kids
    • Sails & Terminology
  • Donate
  • Contact Us
Book Now
Book Now
0
  • Home
  • About Us
    • History
  • News
  • Arklow Town
  • Visit Us
  • Gallery
  • Discover
    • Boatbuilding
    • Wrecks & Rescues
    • Curiosities
    • Folklore
    • Schools & Kids
    • Sails & Terminology
  • Donate
  • Contact Us
Book Now
Book Now
0

Cart

Your cart is currently empty.

Return to shop

Latest News From Facebook

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons
Author Avatar
Arklow Heritage Museum
4 days ago

Knitting Morning
As the weather starts to shift and those cold mornings start to send a strong chill down the nape of your neck, don’t you wish you had a knitted/crocheted scarf or jumper to keep you or your loved ones warm.

Well this post serves as both a reminder to everyone, and also a thank you to all who have attended our knitting mornings so far. So why not come and join in, whether you are looking to experiment on a grand design of a fashionable winter attire, make an attempt at the iconic Arklow Gansey or just want to have a natter with some other lovely people out of the cold.

The knitting mornings are every Wednesday from 10am to 12pm, BYOW (bring your own wool :P).

@followers
... See MoreSee Less

Knitting Morning
As
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share by Email
View Comments likes 16 Shares: 10 Comments: 0

0 CommentsComment on Facebook

Author Avatar
Arklow Heritage Museum
7 days ago

William Proby (1836-1909)
You may remember we made a post discussing Glenart Castle recently: www.facebook.com/ArklowHeritage/posts/pfbid0SddbHkW6otwmzP4HYzsTJ5pAUq5S4o5d8rizfk5tZanuNkt5gbfUL... . On this post one of the many questions I received were about William Proby’s relationship with Arklow and its people and as I delved more into the situation I discovered a story of how a man went from being a hero of the working class during his early years in power, to being seen as a pariah by the end of his tenor.

William Proby, 5th Earl of Carysfort, son of Granville Leverson Proby the 3rd Earl of Carysfort served as High Sheriff of Wicklow in 1866 and as Lord-Lieutenant of County Wicklow from 1890 to 1909 after he succeeded his brother, also named Granville Proby, but his entry into a political standing begins even earlier than that.

Early Life
William Proby was born near Arklow at Glenart castle on January 18, 1836, he was born into a family of immense wealth and political influence. He was the youngest son of Granville Proby, the 3rd Earl of Carysfort. William never had a chance to get to know his mother, as she unfortunately passed away while giving birth to him. He was educated at Eton College and later attended Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a Master of Arts in 1858. As a young man, he served as a captain in the Wicklow Militia. He married Charlotte Mary Heathcote, daughter of Reverend Robert Boothby Heathcote and Charlotte Sotheby, on 11 April 1860 at Chingford, Essex, England, the marriage although fruitful in other ways, produced no children.

Titles and political career
William Proby’s political career began not long after he had graduated college when in 1862 he sat in the main chair of a committee who were to decide upon whether they could help provide fresh water for poorer people in Arklow, a process that had been discussed for over 8 years at this point. Under Williams leadership with Fr James Redmond serving as his acting Secretary, 2 resolutions were passed that night, first that there were to be public pumps put in place in the town (you may have seen a previous Facebook post of ours on these: www.facebook.com/ArklowHeritage/posts/pfbid0vfzJ1t1r62PqdALKaF5k7r4QQ2wQwr888CRs7kA6hb9z3c9WFoZiy...
) and the second resolution was the addition of a new committee to be formed in order to raise the necessary funds. In the end, William not only pushed through the idea that these pumps were necessary, but also donated £50 from the Carysfort estate to ensure the project happened. This push for social change and the betterment of people not born as lucky as him would become a cornerstone of William Proby’s political ethos moving forward. During the Arklow cholera epidemic of 1866, bodies were piled up in the street, with the belief that the bodies were the cause and spread of the disease, nobody wanted anything to do with a person who was dying or had died from it. At this point William Proby and Fr Redmond, who had become his right hand man by this point, stepped into the fold to try and help ease the problem. They started recruiting and organising volunteers and at least according to the folk memory, actually took part in removing the bodies and burying them in some cases. I have attached an article to this post that was printed in the Wicklow Newsletter on December 9th 1866 and it goes into detail about the event and how the public felt about Proby at this time
It was originally expected that William Proby would not inherit any personal titles being that he was the younger son, however when his father passed away in 1868 and then subsequently his older brother in 1872, William succeeded him and became the 5th Earl of Carysfort. Upon succeeding to the Earldom, William took control of Glenart Castle, the magnificent family seat located just outside Arklow. Under his stewardship, the castle and its sprawling estate became a hub of local employment and high society. As a landlord, Lord Carysfort held tens of thousands of acres across County Wicklow, County Dublin, and parts of England (including Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire). In Arklow, he owned virtually all the land situated south of the River Avoca, giving him immense influence over the town's development.

Developer
William Proby used his new found power to continue his work towards the betterment of the town. The first problem he spotted was the poor conditions that the residents, especially the fishing community were living in, he came up with idea of modernising housing in order to bring it up to a model village standard, along the lines of Port Sunlight and Bournville in England. The parish priest who was now Archdeacon Redmond could not be more pleased to see a man he had fought for the rights and wellbeing of Arklow people ascend to the level of Earl and continue his cause despite it (attached is a reproduction of the letter he sent to Proby after his ascension). To this end, his first project was the construction of St Michaels Terrace, known back then as Proby’s Row, a project started in 1875 and completed in 1878, it had consisted of 42 houses on its completion. The following year in 1878, Proby set upon the idea of a civic center, an area where town meetings could be held and matters discussed. However this building, which is now called Marlborough Hall, mostly due to political and sectarian arguments was never used for such purposes. Next he wanted to make it easier for the fisherman to make money from their work and to do this he needed to first improve the harbour, in order to make it fit for purpose. Proby secured a grant of £13,000, however after little of the work had been completed a year later the money was reacquired by the government and Proby’s plans were scuppered.

A hero no more
With the failure of his previous project and a desire to finance his next, Proby could see only one path forward, to raise the rent on the tenets land. He commissioned a valuation to be drawn up of all the property in Arklow owned by him called “Townsend Trench” (a picture of houses on the Wexford Rd I have attached). From this valuation it was found that he was getting £316-7-11 and he deemed after the valuation that he could receive at least £1067-0-9, by increasing the rents town wide. This was the beginning of the end for Proby’s status as the saviour of Arklow in most people’s mind. It was one thing if you lived in the newly built houses and had an increase in rent for living in a modern house, but you felt aggrieved if you were living in old run down ramshackle houses that the locals renamed the area to “Cowld Town” a corruption of cold town. The priest that once was a staunch defender of Proby Fr James Redmond died in 1877 and the town that he wated to advance had mostly turned against him. It is often thought that William Proby was by the end a man of two lives separate, his early years of defending the weak, sick and poor, contrasted his ascent into a confrontational baron landlord of his later years. When Charles Stewart Parnell wanted to help the town advance in 1882, Proby refused to help and deemed Parnell a class traitor for his perceived non devotion to the crown. We do not know if the towns love for Parnell, Proby’s insistence on street preaching Protestantism or the blocking of many projects caused the downfall of the admiration for Proby, but by 1890 the idea of donning your cap to the man was well and truly gone from the public. In late 1890’s Proby turned his ideas insular, he started a major development on Glenart castle and in 1899 the work of building the protestant church St Saviors was completed thanks to funding from Proby.

Death
When William Proby died on September 4, 1909, at the age of 73, the Earldom of Carysfort became extinct. As he had no heirs, his extensive estates were passed down through his sister's family, the political Kirkpatrick / Proby line. Today, his legacy lives on in Arklow through the stones of St. Saviour's Church, the history of the local quarries, and the enduring lore of Glenart Castle. William was buried at Elton, Huntingdonshire District, Cambridgeshire, England and his grave can be found here: www.findagrave.com/memorial/143752578/william-proby

@followers
... See MoreSee Less

Image attachment
Image attachment
Image attachment
Image attachment
Image attachment
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share by Email
View Comments likes love 68 Shares: 8 Comments: 7

7 CommentsComment on Facebook

Author Avatar
Arklow Heritage Museum
2 weeks ago

RNLI 200th Exhibition
Ladies and gentlemen the RNLI 200 exhibition is almost ready for viewing, just a few final touches to be done. We will be opening to the public on Friday the 09th of October from 10am and it will be entirely free of charge to view during the entire months of October-December.

The RNLI is Arklow’s oldest institution, so we are so proud to be able to celebrate a historic birthday with the brave men and women who have saved so many Arklow men and women throughout the last 200 years.

Many of the pieces are donated and loaned exclusively for the exhibition, so make sure to drop by and give it a look, as it may be another 50/100 years before they are removed from members storage and we get see them again :P.
... See MoreSee Less

Image attachment
Image attachment
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share by Email
View Comments likes love 34 Shares: 7 Comments: 2

2 CommentsComment on Facebook

Visitor Reviews

Google
ExcellentGoogle star 1Google star 2Google star 3Google star 4Google star 54.582 reviews
4.5Google star 1Google star 2Google star 3Google star 4Google star 5
Excellent82 reviews
Write a review
Posted on Google Google
Paula Baker profile picture
Paula Baker
25 August 2026
Google star 1Google star 2Google star 3Google star 4Google star 5
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ **A Wonderful Little Museum – Well Worth a Visit** We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to **Arklow Heritage Museum** while stopping in Arklow on our sailing trip around Ireland. The museum is a real gem, with so much fascinating local history, particularly the story of **Arklow’s maritime heritage and boatbuilding**. As sailors ourselves, we especially enjoyed learning about the town’s long connection with the sea and the generations of people whose lives and livelihoods were shaped by it. The displays are interesting and thoughtfully put together, and you can really feel the pride and passion for preserving Arklow’s history. A lovely, welcoming place and definitely worth taking the time to visit if you are in Arklow. We came away having learned so much more about the town and its incredible maritime past. **Highly recommended – a very well-deserved five stars! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐**
Posted on Google Google
Gerry Doran profile picture
Gerry Doran
10 August 2026
Google star 1Google star 2Google star 3Google star 4Google star 5
A great museum for all things nautical pertaining to Arklow
Posted on Google Google
Emmanuel Malekani Chisanga profile picture
Emmanuel Malekani Chisanga
16 May 2026
Google star 1Google star 2Google star 3Google star 4Google star 5
One of the best museums in Ireland. Truly a treat for anyone that loves anything to do with ships
Posted on Google Google
Davide Stadirani profile picture
Davide Stadirani
12 October 2025
Google star 1Google star 2Google star 3Google star 4Google star 5
Un museo che trasuda storia e tradizione della marineria irlandese. Un tempo Arklow era sede di importanti cantieri navali di carattere commerciale. La crisi e altre vicissitudini hanno ridotto se non cancellato l' attività locale e il museo testimonia proprio questo con reperti, cimeli e fotografie di una pagina importante di storia irlandese .
Posted on Google Google
Susan Healy profile picture
Susan Healy
8 August 2025
Google star 1Google star 2Google star 3Google star 4Google star 5
A wonderful little find! Really enjoyed looking through their wealth of exhibits. Staff very friendly and knowledgeable. A veritable treasure trove! Highly recommended!
Posted on Google Google
Patricia D profile picture
Patricia D
13 May 2025
Google star 1Google star 2Google star 3Google star 4Google star 5
A wonderful little surprise full of amazing artifacts and an incredible knowledgeable historian to go with it
Posted on Google Google
Jüri Aibast profile picture
Jüri Aibast
18 April 2025
Google star 1Google star 2Google star 3Google star 4Google star 5
A rrally great place to visit.
Posted on Google Google
Frances Dalton profile picture
Frances Dalton
14 March 2025
Google star 1Google star 2Google star 3Google star 4Google star 5
Great museum very enjoyable well worth a visit
Posted on Google Google
Fleur de Lille 63 profile picture
Fleur de Lille 63
17 November 2024
Google star 1Google star 2Google star 3Google star 4Google star 5
Musée intéressant et instructif. Bel accueil par 2 messieurs. Dommage que la vidéo proposée ne soit pas traduite en français même si je parle la langue locale. Le prix de l'entrée est correct.
Posted on Google Google
murdina macleod profile picture
murdina macleod
29 June 2024
Google star 1Google star 2Google star 3Google star 4Google star 5
As someone who worked in this museum one summer, 1993,may I encourage all my fellow Arklownians to revisit this gem of Local History.New modern layout still uncovered some fascinating titbits of information for me . I took my relatives from The Hebrides and they were fascinated by our mutual seafaring traditions.They so appreciated that the young Guide took time to allow for their questions and Facilitated their Observations on Their Traditions....He was Knowledgeable and Patient and to me made things that I akreafy knew about the town so fresh and Interesting He was a" Natural" tour Leader,I believe his name was Dirmuid? My relatives went off with knitting patterns for the Atklow gansey to compare with The Benbecila one, same seafaring tradition= none of them Chose to Swim as it was" God's Will"....... My only disappointment was that the books purchased had not been signed by Mr Jim Rees himself...I believe there is a real o opportunity here for Arklow to make contact with th Hebrideam Communities here, after all we ar all Vikings are wr not? Best Wishes, Murdina , whose name in Dcits Gaelic means , Mistress of The Sea.


Tripadvisor
ExcellentTripadvisor star 1Tripadvisor star 2Tripadvisor star 3Tripadvisor star 4Tripadvisor star 54.748 reviews
4.7Tripadvisor star 1Tripadvisor star 2Tripadvisor star 3Tripadvisor star 4Tripadvisor star 5
Excellent48 reviews
Write a review
Posted on Tripadvisor Tripadvisor
Nuala D profile picture
Nuala D
2 March 2026
Tripadvisor star 1Tripadvisor star 2Tripadvisor star 3Tripadvisor star 4Tripadvisor star 5Verified
Great museum Great little museum Gave a great insight to the history of Arklow A guide gave us a short tour this provided alot of context regarding the exhibits and it was very much appreciated.
Posted on Tripadvisor Tripadvisor
Micheal McDonald profile picture
Micheal McDonald
18 July 2024
Tripadvisor star 1Tripadvisor star 2Tripadvisor star 3Tripadvisor star 4Tripadvisor star 5Verified
Would definitely recommend Very interesting museum, the staff was very kind and willing to tell me about everything on display, we went to the spot where Kynox once stood and it was very nice.
Posted on Tripadvisor Tripadvisor
Eddie P profile picture
Eddie P
30 December 2022
Tripadvisor star 1Tripadvisor star 2Tripadvisor star 3Tripadvisor star 4Tripadvisor star 5Verified
Don't miss out Please do not miss out on this museum while in Arklow. Friendly knowledge staff. A wealth of local knowledge and history.
Posted on Tripadvisor Tripadvisor
amandarounddworld profile picture
amandarounddworld
6 September 2020
Tripadvisor star 1Tripadvisor star 2Tripadvisor star 3Tripadvisor star 4Tripadvisor star 5Verified
Lovely interesting place Lots of history and plenty to see.the kids loved the ship stuff it is quite small so don’t expect it to be an all day outing maybe an hour at most but we enjoyed it
Posted on Tripadvisor Tripadvisor
Leah profile picture
Leah
25 August 2020
Tripadvisor star 1Tripadvisor star 2Tripadvisor star 3Tripadvisor star 4Tripadvisor star 5Verified
Worth the trip Brian (staff) gave us a great tour of the place and we had such a fun time with the kids. We had a brilliant time as a family. I highly recommend it for families as it will only cost €10 for a family of 3 or more. I suggest you go in groups so the staff can tour you around, then will you truly appreciate the wonders of maritime.
Posted on Tripadvisor Tripadvisor
Villeneuve1959 profile picture
Villeneuve1959
17 February 2020
Tripadvisor star 1Tripadvisor star 2Tripadvisor star 3Tripadvisor star 4Tripadvisor star 5Verified
Do go to this little museum.... Found this little museum on TA for a rainy day visit in area. Interesting for local history, starting with a short film on maritime influence on the town and area. The kind staff pointed out things of significance in the many display cases, and our group wandered around looking at objects and photos happily for half an hour. Recommended if you are visiting Arklow for an overview of the background to the town and people who lived there.
Posted on Tripadvisor Tripadvisor
TMC825 profile picture
TMC825
5 November 2019
Tripadvisor star 1Tripadvisor star 2Tripadvisor star 3Tripadvisor star 4Tripadvisor star 5Verified
Rainy day Popped in out of curiosity and it was a very pleasant surprise. Never new Arklow had such a big shipping past. Friendly staff happy to chat informatively about the exhibits
Posted on Tripadvisor Tripadvisor
Anne C profile picture
Anne C
26 September 2019
Tripadvisor star 1Tripadvisor star 2Tripadvisor star 3Tripadvisor star 4Tripadvisor star 5Verified
Stacks of great info Guide in museum very knowledgeable and helpful. short dvd have local shipping history which was fascinating. Lots of interesting memorabilia about ship building and the central role played in Atklows history. Great way to spend an hour or two.
Posted on Tripadvisor Tripadvisor
albert0069 profile picture
albert0069
10 August 2019
Tripadvisor star 1Tripadvisor star 2Tripadvisor star 3Tripadvisor star 4Tripadvisor star 5Verified
Nice experience Small Museum where you can learn a lot of things about Arklow and its relationship with the Sea. Staff really kind and helpful. If you are in torno and you an hour to spend you can visit it and your time Will not be wasted
Posted on Tripadvisor Tripadvisor
Sallyfamilyadventure profile picture
Sallyfamilyadventure
17 July 2019
Tripadvisor star 1Tripadvisor star 2Tripadvisor star 3Tripadvisor star 4Tripadvisor star 5Verified
Great family outing We visited the arklow museum on a Sunday afternoon, the gentleman gave us a friendly and warm welcome. The museum is on the first floor. There is some amazing displays, various radio, apparatuses and instruments regarding ship's. The gentleman was very helpful and informative, he also showed us the launching of a arklow container ship. The boys really enjoyed this and the experience was amazing for them as they have a keen interest in ships. We enjoyed our visit to the arklow maritime museum thank you

Visit Us

Contact

Arklow Heritage Museum,
Bridgewater Shopping Centre,
North Quay, Arklow,
Co. Wicklow,
Ireland

info@arklowheritage.ie
+353 86 4460 784

About

Arklow Maritime & Heritage Museum, in the town of Arklow in County Wicklow, displays information on the history of Arklow, focusing in particular on its rich martimme, boat building, lifeboat and fishing traditions. We are home to one of the most valuable collections of maritime artifacts in the state.

Quick Links

  • Home
  • Buy Tickets
  • Manage My Bookings
  • Schools & Kids
  • Folklore
  • Contact Us
  • Gallery
  • Support Us
  • Visit Us
  • Arklow Bank Wind Park 2
  • Privacy Policy

Social

Copyright © 2026 Arklow Heritage Museum

Website By ClearSoft

Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
  • Manage options
  • Manage services
  • Manage {vendor_count} vendors
  • Read more about these purposes
View preferences
  • {title}
  • {title}
  • {title}
Accessibility
Accessibility modes
Epilepsy Safe Mode
Dampens color and removes blinks
This mode enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode
Improves website's visuals
This mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode
Helps to focus on specific content
This mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode
Reduces distractions and improve focus
This mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode
Allows using the site with your screen-reader
This mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
Online Dictionary
    Readable Experience
    Content Scaling
    Default
    Text Magnifier
    Readable Font
    Dyslexia Friendly
    Highlight Titles
    Highlight Links
    Font Sizing
    Default
    Line Height
    Default
    Letter Spacing
    Default
    Left Aligned
    Center Aligned
    Right Aligned
    Visually Pleasing Experience
    Dark Contrast
    Light Contrast
    Monochrome
    High Contrast
    High Saturation
    Low Saturation
    Adjust Text Colors
    Adjust Title Colors
    Adjust Background Colors
    Easy Orientation
    Mute Sounds
    Hide Images
    Hide Emoji
    Reading Guide
    Stop Animations
    Reading Mask
    Highlight Hover
    Highlight Focus
    Big Dark Cursor
    Big Light Cursor
    Cognitive Reading
    Virtual Keyboard
    Navigation Keys
    Voice Navigation

    Arklow Heritage Museum

    Accessibility Statement

    • arklowheritage.ie
    • October 17, 2026

    Compliance status

    We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.

    To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.

    This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.

    Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.

    If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email

    Screen-reader and keyboard navigation

    Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:

    1. Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.

      These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.

    2. Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside it.

      Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Disability profiles supported in our website

    • Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
    • Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
    • Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
    • ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
    • Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
    • Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments

    1. Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
    2. Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over seven different coloring options.
    3. Animations – person with epilepsy can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
    4. Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
    5. Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
    6. Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
    7. Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.

    Browser and assistive technology compatibility

    We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers).

    Notes, comments, and feedback

    Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs. There may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to