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Reading and using this site

We aim to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, level AA, and we check the pages with automated tools and by hand. That means it should work with a keyboard alone, with a screen reader, with the text made larger, and for people who cannot hear: there is no video or audio on the site.

What we checked

  • Every kind of page on the site (home, book pages, the shelf pages, the articles index and article pages, the free puzzles page, About, Privacy, the page-not-found page and this page), plus a sample of books and articles, was run through the axe-core accessibility checker (version 4.10) at five window widths, from 1440 down to 320 pixels. It reported no violations.
  • A measured layout check ran at the same widths: overlapping blocks, anything wider than the window, text contrast (4.5 to 1 for normal text, 3 to 1 for large text and outlines), pictures without text descriptions, touch targets under 44 pixels, heading order and page landmarks. Anything it found was fixed before the page went live.
  • Keyboard use: the order of every control was listed and checked, every control has a name, and every control shows a visible outline when it has focus. The word searches on the home page and the puzzle levels page can be played with the arrow keys, Enter and Space alone, or by typing the row and column of a word's first and last letters, and it announces progress in words. The menu button opens and closes the menu, closes on Escape and returns focus to the button. The email box has a visible label and explains a mistake in words, and the sign-up works from the keyboard.
  • The pages fit a 320 pixel wide window without the page scrolling sideways. Text can be enlarged in the browser.
  • Nothing moves on its own or flashes, and animation is switched off for people who ask their device to reduce motion.

What we have not done yet

  • We have not yet had the site tested by people who use screen readers every day, or by readers with other disabilities. Automated checks find only some problems, and we want to hear from you.
  • On a very narrow screen (320 pixels wide) the squares of the word search are smaller than 44 pixels. They still meet the WCAG 2.2 AA minimum of 24 pixels.
  • On the puzzle levels page, the bigger word search grids have squares from 32 pixels wide on a phone (above the 24 pixel minimum), and a very big grid scrolls sideways inside its own box. Every level can also be played by typing positions, and every whodunit is plain text and a table.
  • The rows of covers slide sideways inside their own box. Each row has a link to the full list of those books.
  • The monthly puzzle pack file is made of real text with a document title, but it is not a fully tagged accessible document yet.

If something does not work for you

Tell us which page and what went wrong, and we will fix it or give you the information another way. Write to inkpotlane@gmail.com. We aim to reply within five working days.

If we ever add video or audio, it will have captions and a written transcript.