The whole point of this site is access. It was built by somebody who finds getting out of the door hard, so a page that is difficult to use is not a minor bug here, it is the site failing at the one thing it is for. The about page explains that properly.
This page explains what already works, what is being improved next and how to tell me about a barrier so it can be fixed.
Making going out easier
Most of the effort goes into answering the questions that decide whether a trip happens at all, before you commit to it:
- The practical detail on every listing: the time, the venue, the price, whether it is free.
- How you get there, with the buses and trams heading that way, walking distance, parking and cycle parking.
- What it will be like: the forecast for the start time, and when it gets dark.
- Step free access and age suitability where the organiser has told us, which is not often enough yet.
- The live map carries the things that decide whether an afternoon out is possible: public toilets, drinking water, defibrillators, benches and Changing Places facilities where they are recorded.
- Help near you is deliberately plain and quick to load, because it is used on bad days and on old phones.
Making the site usable
- Pages work at 360 pixels wide and reflow rather than scrolling sideways.
- There is a light and a dark theme, and the choice is remembered.
- Text can be zoomed to 200 per cent without anything being cut off.
- Headings, lists and landmarks are real HTML, so a screen reader gets structure rather than a wall of text.
- Nothing important is behind a hover, and nothing flashes.
- Images that carry meaning have alternative text, and decorative ones are hidden from screen readers.
- Animation follows your reduced motion setting.
What we are improving next
Clear priorities are more useful than a badge, so these are the areas currently being improved:
- The live map is the biggest current accessibility challenge. A map is a hard thing to make work without a mouse, and the list views beside it are the better route for now. Every map layer has a text equivalent, but some of them are buried.
- Access information on listings is only as good as what organisers tell me, and a lot of listings simply do not say. I ask for it, I cannot invent it.
- Some data tables are wide and scroll sideways on a phone.
- Older imported listings can have poor or missing image descriptions.
- Colour contrast has been checked across the site, but new sections occasionally slip through below target until somebody points it out.
- This has not been audited by anybody independent, and I have not tested it with every assistive technology. It is one person doing his best, not a certified process.
Tell me about a barrier
If something here does not work for you, please say, through the contact page. It helps to know what you were trying to do, what happened, and what you were using, but do not let not knowing the details stop you writing. Accessibility reports go to the front of the queue ahead of anything else I am building.
If you would like something on this site in a different format, ask. If it can be done, it will be.