Accessibility

Our approach

The site aims to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at level AA, published by the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative. Pages are plain HTML and CSS with no scripts that change the page, so they work the same with assistive technology, with scripts turned off and on slow connections.

What we do

• Each page has one main heading, headings in order, and its language set to US English, so screen readers can navigate by section.
• A "Skip to content" link appears on keyboard focus, and every link and control shows a visible focus outline.
• Every photo has alt text describing what it shows. Each infographic's alt text repeats every label and number in the image, and the same figures appear in the page text.
• Text and background colors were chosen for contrast: body text is about 15 to 1 against the page background, above the WCAG minimum of 4.5 to 1.
• Tables turn into stacked, labeled rows on phones, so no one has to scroll sideways.
• Questions and the menu use standard expandable elements that open with the keyboard.
• Nothing plays on its own. Videos load only after the play button, which is labeled, is pressed, and the site reduces motion when your device asks it to.
• Text can be enlarged with the browser's zoom without losing content.

Known limits

Some guides link to documents this site does not control, especially water suppliers' annual reports in PDF form; some of these are scanned or printed sideways and are hard to read with a screen reader. The guide quotes their key figures in its own text to help. Embedded videos use YouTube's player, which has its own accessibility features and limits, and captions depend on the video's creator. A few historical photos are low in detail; their alt text describes what can be seen. The about page explains who runs the site, and the privacy policy explains how videos load.