Accessibility Statement
CampsiteScan is a one-person project. We want it to work for everyone who camps in California, including people who use a screen reader, navigate by keyboard, need larger text, or have low vision or colour-blindness.
This page is honest about where we are. It lists what we tested, what passed, and the barriers we know about and have not fixed yet.
Standard we aim for
We are working toward Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA.
Current status: partially conformant. Most of the site meets the standard, but some parts do not. Those parts are listed below.
How we tested
On September 11, 2026 we ran an accessibility review of the live site. The review covered:
- Automated scanning. Every public page was scanned with axe-core 4.10, checking all WCAG 2.1 A and AA rules. Pages covered: the home page and campsite alert dashboard, campground directory, individual campground pages, the articles index, the hardest-to-book ranking, California beach camping, beach camping with dogs, the Campnab comparison, text alerts, FAQ, Terms and Privacy.
- Keyboard-only navigation. We tabbed through the home page without a mouse to confirm you can reach the controls and see where the focus is.
- Colour contrast. Every text and background pair was measured against the 4.5:1 (normal text) and 3:1 (large text) thresholds, in both the light and dark themes.
- Text, zoom and motion. We checked that the page reflows on small screens, that browser zoom is not blocked, and that animation is suppressed when your system is set to "reduce motion".
What we have not done yet. We have not run a full manual test with screen readers (VoiceOver, NVDA, JAWS), and we have not had the site tested by people who use assistive technology daily. Automated tools catch roughly a third of accessibility problems, so there are almost certainly barriers on this list that we have not found. If you hit one, please tell us — see below.
What works today
These were verified in the September 11, 2026 review:
- Every page has a language set, a unique descriptive title, and one main heading, with headings in a logical order.
- Keyboard focus is visible — there is a clear outline on whatever control you have tabbed to.
- No keyboard traps, and no forced tab order that fights the reading order of the page.
- Animation is turned off automatically if your operating system is set to reduce motion.
- Pinch and browser zoom are not blocked, and pages reflow down to a narrow phone screen without sideways scrolling.
- Every button has a name a screen reader can announce.
- A dark theme is available, and the site follows your system setting unless you override it.
- Alerts arrive by email and text message, so you do not have to sit on the website watching for an opening.
Barriers we know about
These are real problems found in the September 11, 2026 review. They are listed worst-first.
| Problem | Who it affects | Fix expected |
|---|---|---|
| The campground map puts around 610 unlabelled markers into the keyboard tab order. Tabbing past the map takes hundreds of keypresses, and a screen reader announces each marker with no name. (WCAG 2.4.3, 4.1.2) | Keyboard and screen reader users | October 2026 |
| 18 of the 27 form fields — including sign-in, sign-up, password reset, phone verification and the contact form — use placeholder text instead of a real label. Screen readers may announce them as unlabelled, and the placeholder disappears once you start typing. (WCAG 1.3.1, 3.3.2) | Screen reader users; anyone with short-term memory difficulty | October 2026 |
| Several text and background combinations fall below the 4.5:1 contrast minimum: white on the orange call-to-action buttons (3.0:1), grey helper and legend text (3.6–4.0:1), and green headings and links in the dark theme (2.5–2.9:1). (WCAG 1.4.3) | People with low vision or colour-blindness | October 2026 |
| The sign-in, settings, contact and sign-in pop-ups are not marked up as dialogs, so a screen reader is not told a dialog has opened and keyboard focus is not confined to it. (WCAG 4.1.2) | Screen reader and keyboard users | November 2026 |
| There is no "skip to content" link on the main site, so keyboard users must tab through the header and map on every visit. (WCAG 2.4.1) | Keyboard users | November 2026 |
| Campground photos are all marked as decorative with empty alternative text, even where the photo carries information about the site. (WCAG 1.1.1) | Screen reader users | November 2026 |
| When scan results and availability update on the page, the change is not announced, so a screen reader user has to go looking for it. (WCAG 4.1.3) | Screen reader users | December 2026 |
| Map markers and a few icon controls are smaller than the 24×24 pixel minimum target size. (WCAG 2.5.8) | People with limited fine motor control; touchscreen users | December 2026 |
The home page does not use main and
nav landmarks, so screen reader shortcuts for jumping
between regions do not work there. (WCAG 1.3.1) |
Screen reader users | December 2026 |
If something blocks you, tell us
If any part of CampsiteScan is hard or impossible for you to use, we want to hear about it — including problems not on the list above. Use the contact form. A real person reads every message, and we aim to reply within two working days.
It helps if you can tell us the page you were on, what you were trying to do, and what browser or assistive technology you were using. But send it even if you cannot — a one-line "the map is unusable with a keyboard" is still useful.
Need to set up an alert another way?
If the website is not working for you, message us through the contact form with the campground and the dates you want, and we will set the watch up on your account by hand. You should not have to fight the interface to find out a campsite opened up.
Review schedule
This statement was prepared on September 11, 2026 based on a review of the live site carried out that day. We re-test after any significant change to the site, and at minimum every six months. Next scheduled review: March 2027.