Text + contrast + alternatives
Canvas and SVG meaning must also exist in words.
ACCESSIBILITY · THE TRANSLATION ROOM
A living gallery must still stand still when asked.
Transform one specimen through keyboard, zoom, contrast and motion states. The experiment changes only the specimen and stores nothing.
01Keyboard before spectacle02Meaning never depends on motion03Reflow before truncation04Report barriers without disclosing health data
THE TRANSLATION ROOM · CHANGE ONE CONDITION
The same meaning must survive a different way of reading.
Each control demonstrates a design requirement on a bounded specimen. It does not certify the entire site.
SELECTED STATE BASE SPECIMEN Deterministic · no visitor score
BOUNDED SPECIMEN
A route should survive translation.
Meaning remains when colour, motion, scale or pointer use changes.
Follow the readable route → 01heading02plain explanation03visible action04status text
THE SITE IN PRACTICE · IMPLEMENTATION TRACE
Four principles govern every route, not just this page.
WCAG’s perceivable, operable, understandable and robust principles become site-specific tests rather than a decorative badge.
Keyboard + motion control
Focus is visible and motion can become Calm or Still.
Purpose before instrument
A visitor should know what changed and what it does not prove.
Semantic HTML + labels
Assistive technologies need structure, not only pixels.
This rendered route currently carries 1,283 visible words in the Living Sitemap catalogue. Shared navigation and footer text are excluded from that measure.
EVIDENCE-LED DEVELOPMENT · OPEN THE PERIOD
Access widened whenever one format stopped pretending to fit everyone.
The timeline links communication systems, equality duties and web standards without claiming that a technical checklist settles every person’s experience.
Raised dots become a reading system
Louis Braille’s system demonstrated that information can survive translation into a radically different sensory form.
RNIB · Braille history ↗Access becomes an equality duty
The Disability Discrimination Act was followed by the Equality Act 2010. This site does not claim public-sector status, but Part 3 and the reasonable-adjustment duty may apply where services are offered to the public, whether paid or free.
Equality Act 2010 · services ↗Web accessibility becomes a shared standard
WCAG 1.0 established an international web-accessibility recommendation; later versions made the principles technology-neutral and testable.
W3C · WCAG history ↗WCAG 2.2 becomes a Recommendation
WCAG 2.2 added nine success criteria and retained the four principles: perceivable, operable, understandable and robust.
W3C · What is new in 2.2 ↗The timeline explains development; it does not imply that one date alone determines the law, guidance or duty applicable to a particular situation.
AUTHORITATIVE SOURCE WATCH · WEEKLY
Official routes reached
The monitor reached every selected authority. Reachability is not a legal conclusion.
LAST ROUTE CHECK 4/4 4 August 2026 at 05:12
01 · official route reachedW3C · WCAG 2.2200 ↗02 · official route reachedEquality Act 2010 · section 20200 ↗03 · official route reachedEquality Act 2010 · section 29200 ↗04 · official route reachedGOV.UK · Accessibility requirements200 ↗
This monitor reports source-route observations. It does not certify that the law is unchanged, that the interpretation is complete or that the site is compliant in every circumstance. A confirmed source variation creates an editorial review task; it never changes the operative statement automatically.
OPERATIVE STATEMENT · VERSION 2026.08.04
The stable wording beneath the moving instrument.
Continuous-improvement statement · WCAG 2.2 AA is the design target, not a certification or full-conformance claim. The living sections above explain and monitor; this versioned section states the site’s intended operating position.
Design target and present status
The site is designed toward WCAG 2.2 Level AA. This is a target and continuous-improvement discipline, not a certification or a claim that every experimental route fully conforms.
The site is not presented as a public-sector body, so it does not claim that the public-sector website regulations govern it. GOV.UK guidance remains a useful implementation reference. Separately, Equality Act 2010 Part 3 may apply when a service is offered to the public, whether paid or free, including an anticipatory duty to consider reasonable adjustments where applicable.
Design commitments
Pages provide a skip link, semantic headings, visible focus states, responsive layouts and text alternatives for meaningful images. Interactive Canvas and SVG instruments must be accompanied by labels or a textual explanation. Links and controls should expose their purpose without requiring hover.
Motion and sensory effects
Full, Calm and Still modes separate interpretation from animation. The site also reads the browser’s reduced-motion preference. Data meanings must not depend on motion, colour, sound or pointer position alone. Background audio in editorial media requires a visible control. Prerecorded speech should have synchronised captions or equivalent on-screen words; meaningful visual information not conveyed by the audio should receive an appropriate alternative.
Zoom, reflow and dense instruments
The design intends to reflow at narrow widths and preserve readable text when enlarged. Some dense observatories and experimental visual instruments remain demanding at high zoom or on small screens. Source lists, transcripts and plain-language methodology provide a non-visual route while individual interfaces are improved.
Testing boundary
Automated checks can detect only part of WCAG. Keyboard use, focus order, zoom, screen-reader output, language clarity and real assistive-technology experience require manual and human testing. A successful automated run must not be presented as proof of full conformance.
Report a barrier
Use the Third Chair contact form and put “accessibility barrier” at the beginning of the message. Identify the page, device or assistive technology and the barrier encountered. Do not include a diagnosis or other sensitive health information. A suitable alternative format or route will be considered with the report.
REVISION LEDGER · MATERIAL WORDING STAYS TRACEABLE
The statement changes by edition, never by invisible drift.
Translation room and explicit target
Added a bounded accessibility experiment, WCAG 2.2 AA target, testing boundary and clearer barrier route.
First accessibility statement
Established keyboard, motion, label and contrast commitments.
SOURCE REGISTER · OPEN THE AUTHORITY
Protection begins with traceability.
01W3C · WCAG 2.2
International accessibility Recommendation.
Open original source ↗02W3C · WCAG 2.2 publication historyOfficial version and publication record.
Open original source ↗03Equality Act 2010Primary UK equality legislation.
Open original source ↗04Equality Act 2010 · section 20Primary reasonable-adjustment provision.
Open original source ↗05Equality Act 2010 · section 29Primary services and public-functions provision.
Open original source ↗06EHRC · Services Code of PracticeStatutory guidance context for services, public functions and associations; the route may restrict automated inspection.
Open original source ↗07GOV.UK · public-sector accessibility requirementsImplementation context; this personal site does not claim public-sector status.
Open original source ↗These pages document the site’s intended operating position; they are not a claim of legal invulnerability and do not replace advice on the actual configuration, activity, relationship or dispute.