Accessibility statement

Last updated July 17, 2026

We at The Plain Exchange are working to make this site, theplainexchange.com, accessible to people with disabilities — and to keep the service usable by people whose phones and comfort with technology vary widely. That is the point of the whole service: everything important can be done with a plain text message from any phone, no smartphone or computer needed.

What web accessibility is

An accessible site lets visitors with disabilities browse with the same or a similar level of ease as other visitors — through the abilities of the device they are on, and through assistive technologies such as screen readers and keyboard navigation.

Accessibility adjustments on this site

We build this site to work with assistive technologies and aim to follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at level AA. As part of that effort we have:

• Set the language of the site so screen readers announce it correctly.
• Kept every page server-rendered, plain HTML: the whole site works with the keyboard, and the important parts work even without JavaScript.
• Provided a “skip to content” link at the top of every page.
• Used clear heading structures and labeled navigation on every page.
• Added alternative text to meaningful images, and marked decorative images so screen readers pass over them.
• Chosen a high-contrast, print-inspired design with large, readable type.
• Kept motion and animation to almost none, and used no videos or audio.

Where compliance is partial

Ad text and ad photos are submitted by members, mostly by text message from ordinary phones. We review every ad, but we cannot always provide a meaningful description of what is in a member’s photo, so photo descriptions on ad pages may be limited. We therefore declare partial compliance for pages that show member-submitted photos.

If the website doesn’t work for you

You do not need the website to use The Plain Exchange. Every core feature — getting the ads, posting an ad, pulling a picture, marking an item sold — works by plain text message to (330) 960-7170, and a person answers the support line.

Requests, issues, and suggestions

If you find an accessibility problem on this site, or you need help in a different form, contact the operator:

• Call or text (330) 275-1603

Tell us what page and what went wrong, and we will work to fix it. See also the how it works page and the questions page.