Accessibility
Most accessibility statements are a paragraph of intent. This one lists what is actually in the code, because the site was built with these things in it rather than promising them for later.
Specific things, not intentions
We aim at WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Rather than simply assert that, here is what is actually in the code, all of which is checked automatically every time a page is rebuilt.
| Feature | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| One heading structure per page | Exactly one h1 and a logical heading order, so a screen reader can skim the page by heading rather than reading everything. |
| Real table markup | Every data table has a caption and row and column headers marked with scope, so a screen reader announces which column a figure belongs to. This site is full of comparison tables and they are the hardest thing to read badly. |
| Keyboard operable menus | The navigation uses real buttons with aria-expanded rather than hover only CSS. Escape closes an open menu. Nothing needs a mouse. |
| Visible focus | A clear focus outline on every interactive element, so you can see where you are when tabbing. |
| Reduced motion respected | If your system asks for reduced motion, transitions and smooth scrolling are turned off. |
| Text that reflows | Type is set in relative units and layouts are fluid, so zooming to 200 percent or using a narrow window does not produce a horizontal scrollbar. Wide tables scroll inside their own container rather than pushing the page sideways. |
| Colour is not the only signal | Where something is marked open, closed or required, the word says so as well as the colour. |
| Links that make sense alone | Link text describes its destination rather than saying "click here", which matters when a screen reader lists the links on a page. |
Where we know it falls short
A statement that claims full compliance and lists no problems is not telling you the truth. Here are the ones we know about.
Images and alternative text
The site is photography led and the photographs are still being added. Every image slot is built to take proper alternative text, and until a picture and its description are both in place a page is carrying a placeholder. If you hit one that describes nothing useful, that is why, and it is temporary.
Things outside our control
Links out to operators, recreation.gov and the National Park Service go to sites we do not build and cannot fix. We have no view of how accessible any of them are.
No formal audit yet
The checks described above are automated and run on every build. They are not the same thing as an independent accessibility audit or testing with real assistive technology users, and we are not going to describe them as if they were.
Tell us and we will fix it
If a page is hard to use with a screen reader, a keyboard, magnification or any other assistive technology, we want to know. It is a bug in the same way a wrong price is a bug, and it gets fixed the same way.
The most useful message names the page, what you were trying to do, and what happened instead. Which browser and which assistive technology helps but is not essential. Write to us through the contact page.
If you need something on this site in a different format, ask. It is a small site run by a person, and a plain text version of a table is not a difficult thing to send.