The standard
The aim is conformance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at level AA. Every page is checked against it with automated tools and a manual keyboard pass before it goes live.
What's in place
| Area | What you can expect |
|---|---|
| Structure | One main heading per page, headings in order, and landmarks for the header, navigation, main content and footer, so screen readers can jump straight to what they need. |
| Keyboard | Everything works without a mouse. A “Skip to content” link appears on the first Tab press, and every focused element has a visible outline. |
| Colour | Text meets the AA contrast ratio of 4.5:1 against its background. Nothing is conveyed by colour alone. |
| Text | The page reflows at 400% zoom with no horizontal scrolling. Larger text, wider spacing and underlined links are available from the panel. |
| Motion | Animation is minimal and switches off when your device asks for reduced motion, or when you choose it in the panel. |
| Images | Meaningful images have text descriptions. Decorative images are hidden from screen readers. |
| Reading | Articles are written in plain English with short sections, and can be read aloud by the browser from the panel. |
Tools on this site
The accessibility panel sits in the bottom-left corner of every page. Your choices are saved in your browser and apply to every page you visit here. They stay on your device and are never sent anywhere; see the privacy page.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Text size | Enlarges text and layout together to 115% or 130%, so nothing overlaps. |
| High contrast | Black text on white with strong borders. Dark areas become pure black with white text. |
| Light mode | Dark text on a light background. The site follows your device's light or dark setting until you choose, and is dark when the device has no preference. |
| Readable spacing | Wider letter, word and line spacing, which many people with dyslexia find easier to track. |
| Underline links | Marks every link with an underline so they don't rely on colour. |
| Reduce motion | Stops hover movement and transitions. |
| Read aloud | Reads the main content of the page using your browser's built-in voice, highlighting each passage as it goes. Play, pause and speed controls included. |
| Narrated articles | Some articles carry a recorded narration in a natural voice. The Listen button on the article plays it, with pause, restart, stop and a position slider, and the passage being spoken is highlighted and kept in view. |
Tools you already have
Your browser and device offer more than any website can build in. These are the ones worth knowing about.
| Need | Where to find it |
|---|---|
| Bigger everything | Press Ctrl and + (Windows) or ⌘ and + (Mac) to zoom. This site reflows cleanly to 400%. |
| Distraction-free reading | Reader view in Safari, Firefox and Edge strips the page to its text. In Chrome, use the “Reading mode” side panel. |
| Screen reader | VoiceOver is built into Mac, iPhone and iPad. Narrator is built into Windows, and NVDA is free. TalkBack is built into Android. |
| System-wide text and contrast | Windows: Settings › Accessibility › Text size, and Contrast themes. Mac: System Settings › Accessibility › Display. These change every app at once. |
| Captions and voice control | Live captions and voice control are built into recent versions of Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. |
| Reduce motion | Set it once in your device's accessibility settings and this site, and most others, will respect it automatically. |
Known limitations
- Some articles are marked as previews while they're being written. Their text may change.
- Code samples in technical articles scroll horizontally on narrow screens so that the code stays intact.
- Read aloud depends on the voices installed in your browser. Quality varies, and a few browsers offer none.
- Links to GitHub, LinkedIn and other sites lead to pages I don't control.
How this is tested
Every build is checked with axe-core, the engine behind Lighthouse's accessibility score, across the homepage, listings and articles, in the default, dark and high-contrast modes. Pages are also checked by hand with a keyboard and with VoiceOver.
Found a problem?
Tell me and I'll fix it. Email sem.williamharvey@gmail.com with the page address and what went wrong. I aim to reply within five working days.