Our commitment
We aim for this site to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA, the standard most commonly used for public-interest sites. We're a small, student-run project rather than a professional accessibility team, so we treat this as ongoing work, not a one-time checklist.
What we've done
Specific, current measures on this site include:
- Text and background color combinations checked against WCAG AA contrast ratios (4.5:1 for body text).
- Visible keyboard focus indicators on every interactive element, and a "skip to content" link on every page.
- Descriptive alternative text on every image.
- Form fields with real, associated labels rather than placeholder-only text.
- Interactive controls sized for touch, including the mobile menu and language switcher.
- Motion and animation that respect your device's "reduce motion" setting.
- An accessible, keyboard-friendly alternative to the interactive district map: type your address into the search field above the map for the same result as clicking on it. The map itself, built on a third-party mapping library, has some inherent limits on keyboard and screen-reader interaction that we haven't fully solved yet.
Known limitations
Interactive maps in general are difficult to make fully accessible with current mapping tools. We mitigate this on our own maps by always providing a text-based alternative that gives the same information. Spanish and Haitian Creole translations are generated automatically by Google Translate and aren't reviewed for accuracy or accessibility; when in doubt, refer to the English original.
Reporting a problem
If you use assistive technology and run into something on this site that doesn't work the way it should, please tell us. Include the page you were on and, if you can, what you were trying to do; that's usually enough for us to track it down. Email contact@miamidadecommissionwatch.com or use our contact page.