Accessibility

The standard we work to

We aim to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA. That is the benchmark most commonly applied to public websites in the United States.

We are not claiming that this site currently conforms to it. Conformance is something a site earns by being tested against every criterion, and this one has not been through a full independent audit. Saying otherwise would be easy and would not be true. What we can tell you is exactly where we have got to, which is the rest of this page.

What the site does today

• A skip link. The first thing a keyboard reaches on every page is a link that jumps straight past the header and navigation to the content.
• Real HTML structure. Headings are headings, lists are lists, and the navigation, main content and footer are marked as such, so a screen reader can move between them.
• Keyboard operation. Every link, button, form field and menu can be reached and operated without a mouse, and the element you are on is visibly outlined.
• Forms that explain themselves. Every field has a label attached to it, errors are described in words rather than by colour alone, and what you typed is given back to you when something fails validation.
• Text that scales. The layout works when text is enlarged and on a phone-width screen, without content being cut off or requiring sideways scrolling.
• Reduced motion. If your system asks for less motion, animations and transitions are switched off.
• No pop-ups, no interstitials, no autoplaying media. Nothing appears over the page and demands to be dismissed before you can read it.

What is not done yet

This list is deliberate. A statement that mentions no problems is a statement nobody checked.

• No independent audit has been carried out. Everything above has been checked by us, against the guidelines, but not by a third party and not with a full range of assistive technology.
• Photographs carry short alternative text. Images are described, but the descriptions are brief and some would be more useful if they were fuller.
• Some listing information comes from elsewhere. Business details from OpenStreetMap and event details from organisers’ calendars arrive as their authors wrote them. Where the original is abbreviated or oddly punctuated, it may read poorly aloud, and we cannot fix that at the source.
• Small print does not yet meet the contrast minimum. Body text and headings are comfortably above the AA threshold, but the smallest supporting text — breadcrumbs, the notes under form fields, and some field labels — is not. Measured against its background, the lightest of it reaches about 2.5:1 where the standard asks for 4.5:1, and some field labels reach 4.26:1. We know the numbers because we measured them, and correcting the palette is scheduled work rather than an aspiration. If it is affecting you now, say so and we will prioritise it.
• Pages we link to are not ours. News headlines link out to publishers, and city services link to city websites. We cannot control the accessibility of those sites.

Telling us about a barrier

Use the contact form, under “Legal or privacy”. It is the fastest route to a person, and it is the only one — this site publishes no email address.

If you can, tell us:

• which page you were on;
• what you were trying to do;
• what happened instead; and
• what you were using — a screen reader and its name, keyboard only, magnification, voice control.

Any of that is optional. Send us as much as you have and we will work with it.

What happens then

We aim to acknowledge a report within five business days and to tell you what we intend to do. Where something can be fixed quickly, it usually is. Where it cannot, we will say so, say why, and offer another way to get the information you were after.

If you need something on this site in a different format, ask, and we will find a way to get it to you.

Who is responsible

This site is published by Pangea United Inc. Accessibility is treated as part of building the site rather than as a later pass over it, and this page is updated whenever the answer to “what works and what does not” changes.