Accessible Design Standards
Scientific instruments and research literature must be fully legible to every researcher. We have implemented the following accessibility features across the web application:
- Keyboard Navigation: The 16×16 interactive map supports full keyboard operation using a roving tabindex, standard arrow-key navigation, and wrap-around movement.
- Accessible Table Alternative: The map includes a complete sortable and navigable table alternative rendering all 256 states with explicit labels for screen readers.
- Color Vision Deficiency Support: The diverging SQ palette is mapped in OKLab color space and tested for protanopia, deuteranopia, and tritanopia. Color is never the sole indicator of sign or state: glyphs (+/−) and textual zone labels accompany all cells.
- High Contrast & Semantic Landmarks: Body copy meets or exceeds a 4.5:1 contrast ratio against the background. Skip links allow immediate bypass of navigation headers.
- Motion Sensitivity: All animations honor
prefers-reduced-motionsettings. Autoplay is disabled everywhere.
Known Limitations & Feedback
We continually audit this site against automated accessibility suites and screen reader devices. If you encounter any barrier, please file an issue on our GitHub repository.