Plateaus.org is committed to making its geographic and educational content usable by as many people as possible, including visitors who navigate with keyboards, screen readers, voice controls, touchscreens, magnification tools, or other assistive technologies.
Our Accessibility Goal
We use the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, including WCAG 2.2 Level AA, as a practical reference for content, design, and development decisions. Accessibility is treated as an ongoing responsibility rather than a one-time certification.
Access to essential geographic data must not depend solely on using a mouse, seeing a particular color, reading a visual tooltip, or interpreting an image. When an accessibility barrier affects access to core information, it is treated as a defect requiring review and correction.
Measures We Take
Accessibility considerations are incorporated into content preparation, page design, interactive features, and maintenance. Measures include:
- Using a logical heading hierarchy and meaningful page structure;
- Maintaining readable text sizes, line spacing, and color contrast;
- Keeping text links visually distinguishable without relying on color alone;
- Providing clearly visible keyboard focus indicators for interactive elements;
- Writing descriptive link and button text instead of vague labels;
- Adding alternative text to informative images and treating decorative images appropriately;
- Providing clear table headings, captions, units, and relationships;
- Avoiding unnecessary motion and respecting reduced-motion preferences;
- Testing common templates and interactive components with keyboard navigation;
- Reviewing reported accessibility barriers according to their severity and effect on access to information.
Interactive Maps, Charts, and Geographic Visuals
Maps, charts, diagrams, and terrain visuals can contain relationships that are difficult to communicate through a short image description. Essential information presented visually must therefore also be available through accessible interaction, nearby text, a structured list, or a data table.
Keyboard access
- Information available through mouse hover must also be available through keyboard focus;
- Interactive map regions, chart points, controls, and data markers must be reachable without a mouse;
- Enter or Space must activate selectable map regions and interactive controls where those keys are appropriate;
- Keyboard focus must remain visible and follow a logical order;
- Users must be able to leave an interactive component without becoming trapped inside it.
Tooltips and data labels
- Tooltip information must be available through both pointer interaction and keyboard focus;
- Tooltips must not disappear before a keyboard or assistive-technology user can read them;
- Important values must not be provided only through hover behavior;
- Data labels must identify the relevant place, category, series, value, and unit where needed for understanding.
Color and visual distinctions
- Color must not be the only method used to distinguish a category, status, elevation range, or data series;
- Patterns, labels, symbols, borders, text, or other visual indicators must supplement color where necessary;
- Text and essential visual elements must maintain sufficient contrast against their backgrounds.
Text and table equivalents
- Charts containing essential data must include an accessible text summary, data table, or equivalent structured presentation;
- Maps used to communicate essential facts must provide the same key facts in nearby text, lists, or tables;
- Tables must use clear column and row headings and identify relevant units;
- Alternative presentations must contain the important information rather than merely describing the appearance of the graphic.
Accessible names and structure
- Chart titles, axes, legends, units, controls, and data series must have understandable labels;
- Interactive regions must have accessible names that identify the location or feature represented;
- Controls that expand, filter, switch, or update data must communicate their purpose and current state;
- Dynamic updates that are essential to the task must be announced appropriately to assistive technologies.
Touchscreen instructions
Instructions for interactive maps and charts must not refer only to hovering. Where supported, directions should explain that users may hover, tap, click, or use the keyboard. Touch targets must be large enough to select without requiring precise pointer movement.
Keyboard and Screen Reader Use
The website is intended to support standard browser keyboard commands and modern screen readers. Menus, links, buttons, disclosure controls, form fields, map regions, and chart controls must be understandable and operable without a mouse when they provide access to content or functions.
Browser zoom, text resizing, operating-system magnification, and other user-controlled display settings may be used to enlarge content. Page content should remain readable and usable when enlarged within reasonable browser limits.
Compatibility
The best experience is generally available with a current version of a major browser and an up-to-date operating system or assistive technology. Very old browsers, unsupported devices, browser extensions, or disabled browser features may affect presentation or function.
Compatibility limitations do not remove the requirement to provide essential geographic and educational information in an accessible form.
Known and Reported Issues
Some older content, source documents, or third-party features may require further accessibility improvements. Possible issues include:
- Older images that need more descriptive text alternatives;
- Complex historical tables that require clearer headings or responsive presentation;
- Documents supplied by external organizations that are not fully accessible;
- Third-party advertisements, embedded media, consent interfaces, or widgets whose behavior is not entirely controlled by Plateaus.org.
These issues are not treated as permanent exceptions. A reported problem that prevents access to essential content is reviewed for correction, replacement, removal, or provision of an accessible alternative.
Third-Party Content
Plateaus.org may link to scientific institutions, government agencies, journals, map services, and other external websites. We cannot control the accessibility of external pages, documents, or tools. A link to an external resource does not represent a claim that the destination conforms to a particular accessibility standard.
When third-party material is necessary to understand a Plateaus.org article, important conclusions should also be explained within the article where reasonably possible.
Feedback and Assistance
If you encounter an accessibility barrier or need information in a different format, email contact@plateaus.org with the subject line “Accessibility.” Include the page URL and a description of the information, control, or format involved.
Requests and reports are reviewed according to the nature of the barrier, its effect on access to information, and the resources required for correction. Personal information included in a report is processed according to the Privacy Policy.
Assessment and Updates
Accessibility may be assessed through automated checks, keyboard testing, focus-order review, contrast evaluation, screen-reader checks, content review, responsive testing, and user feedback. Automated tools are used as one part of the review process and are not treated as proof that a page is fully accessible.
This statement may be updated as the website, accessibility standards, interactive features, and remediation work evolve.