Access

Read it your way.

What this site does for readers with disabilities, what it does not do yet, and how to change the pages to suit you.

How to make the site easier to use. What works now. What does not work yet.

Part 1 of 7 · About 2 minutes

Your settings

Change these and every page that has the new shell follows. Nothing is sent anywhere: the settings live in this browser.

Change these to make the site easier for you. They stay on this device.

Reading & access

Kept on this device only. Nothing is sent anywhere. Turn on as many as help: they combine. Where two differ, the larger text, the more space, the less motion and the quieter companion win. Otherwise the one you chose last wins.

Presets

• ADHDSection labels, reading times and a progress line. Less motion.
• FocusOne column, the extras put away, no companion.
• DyslexiaLexend type, more space, plain words, larger text.
• Low visionAtkinson Hyperlegible at 150%, high contrast, more space.
• Colour visionChart colours for red-green colour blindness, with patterns.
• Screen reader and keyboardNo motion, more space, no companion.
• Plain languagePlain words where a plain version is written.
• CalmNo motion, no countdowns, grey charts.

Each setting

Text size

100%115%130%150%200%

Typeface

StandardLexendAtkinson Hyperlegible

Lexend and Atkinson Hyperlegible were each designed to be easier to read.

Spacing

StandardGenerous

Contrast

StandardHighDark

Words

StandardPlain

Plain words where a plain version is written.

Detail

StandardMore structureFocus

More structure adds section labels, reading times and a progress line. Focus puts the extras away.

Motion

OnReduced

Sheet speed

Full (5 seconds)Quick (1 second)Instant

How a member's page changes sheets. Any click, tap or key skips the move. Motion off makes every change instant.

Scroll fade

FullSubtleOff

How text fades in and out at the edges of the screen.

Calm

OffOn

No countdowns and no motion. Chart bars get patterns.

Chart colours

StandardRed-green (deuteranopia)Red-green (protanopia)Blue-yellow (tritanopia)Grey only

Changes the colours of charts only, and adds patterns.

Companion

OnStillOff

Still draws it once. Off never loads it.

Put everything back

Part 2 of 7 · About 1 minute

Counting visits

This site counts nothing about its readers. No page sends a visit, a click, a search or a place to anyone, and no page loads a counting service. Your settings, your companion and any place worked out for “Use my location” stay in this browser. One choice of yours does reach another server: if you switch on street maps on a ballot page, OpenStreetMap’s servers see which map squares are asked for. If counting is ever switched on, this section will say exactly what is counted, and two switches will turn it off.

This site does not count you. No page sends anything about you to anyone. One choice does reach another site. If you turn on street maps, OpenStreetMap sees which parts of the map you look at. If counting ever starts, this page will say what is counted. You will be able to turn it off.

Part 3 of 7 · About 1 minute

What we aim for

The aim is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, version 2.2, at level AA, on every page. The site does not claim to meet them yet. This page says what is done and what is not.

We want every page to work for everyone. We are not there yet. This page shows what is done.

Part 4 of 7 · About 1 minute

What is done

On the front door, the Method page and this page:

On these three pages:

• A “Skip to content” link is the first thing the keyboard reaches.
• One header, one main area and one footer, with every navigation area named.
• A visible focus ring on everything the keyboard can reach. No outline is taken away.
• Every button, menu item and link on its own is at least 44 by 44 pixels. A link inside a sentence is the size of its words.
• Nothing works by hovering alone. The menus open with a click, a tap or the keyboard, and Esc closes them.
• No single-key shortcuts, so voice control cannot set one off by accident.
• Twelve settings and eight presets, which combine. They are kept on this device and nowhere else.
• A device set to reduce motion is honoured on the first visit, before anything is touched.
• The fade at the edges of the screen is off under high contrast and reduced motion, replays the same way scrolling up as down, and never dims a section parked in the middle of the screen.
• The six icons are fully drawn even when no script runs, and every one of their moves ends at rest.
• The chart never puts a number on a bar, has a table version, and adds patterns under the colour-vision palettes, Calm and high contrast. Its colours hold at least 3 to 1 against every background in light, dark and high contrast, and stay apart for three kinds of colour blindness, checked by simulation.
• The companion is hidden from screen readers. Its control is a real button named “Open help”. Off loads nothing. Still draws it once.
• The pages reflow to 320 pixels wide without scrolling sideways.

Part 5 of 7 · About 1 minute

What is not done yet

• The rest of the site does not have these settings yet: Plain Congress, On The Ballot, Election Night’s results pages, the state and county pages, the ring of cards and the cabin. Only light or dark, and motion on or off, carry across today.
• No one has yet walked through the site with a screen reader such as VoiceOver or NVDA. Automated checks find only part of what stops people.
• Plain-language versions exist only for the main text of the front door, this page and the Method page. Their reading level is checked each time the pages are built.
• The pages have not been timed on a four-year-old phone.
• The vote map and the district maps on other pages have not been checked against this list.
• This site makes no claim yet to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

Part 6 of 7 · About 1 minute

The companion

The animal at the corner of the screen is optional. Its only job is to open Help, which is also in the top bar. It never speaks on its own and never makes a sound. It steps aside while you scroll, unless motion is reduced or it is Still. With motion on, pointing at it or reaching it with the keyboard makes it do a short dance made of the real animal's own moves. Choose it, still it or switch it off under Help or in the settings above.

The animal in the corner only opens Help. Point at it and it does a little dance. You can stop it or turn it off.

The seven animals are drawn on your own device with three.js (MIT licence). Each is sculpted in code from studies of how the real animal is built and how it moves. The snail's shell is shaped from a scan of a real shell by TinyWorlds, given to the public domain (CC0) at OpenGameArt.

Part 7 of 7 · About 1 minute

Report a barrier

If something on the site gets in your way, write to the address below. Say which page it was, what you were trying to do and what stopped you. A screenshot helps, if you can send one.

Tell us when something on the site does not work for you. Write to the address below. Say which page it was.

reports@thecivicarchive.org

This statement was written on October 13, 2026, for version 4.1.000.