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Ecoregions

Accessibility

We want Ecoregions to work for everyone, on the web, on iPhone and iPad, on Mac and on Android. Our target is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, level AA. We have tested it ourselves with automated checks and by keyboard. It has not yet had an independent audit, so treat this page as our own account and not as a certificate.

What works today

  • Screen readers (VoiceOver, TalkBack, NVDA, JAWS): controls have names, panels and dialogs announce themselves, and messages such as upload progress and publish status are read out as they change.
  • A list instead of the map. The map is a 3D canvas. The first link on the home screen, Skip to region list, opens a plain searchable list of every ecoregion. Choosing one flies the map there and opens its card.
  • Keyboard. Everything can be reached with Tab and operated with Enter, Space and the arrow keys. The map pans with the arrow keys and zooms with plus and minus. The leaf slider steps with the arrow keys, Home and End. The plot builder has a cursor you move with the arrow keys; Enter places a piece, Delete removes it and R rotates it. Focus is shown with a gold outline and Escape closes panels.
  • Text size. On iPhone and iPad the controls follow your Dynamic Type size. On any device, Menu then Larger controls makes the top row and bottom bar at least 44 points tall with type of 13 pixels or more. Your choice is remembered.
  • Your device settings. We follow Increase Contrast, Reduce Transparency (no blur, solid backgrounds), Reduce Motion (short or instant camera moves, no sliding panels) and forced-colours modes.
  • Touch targets are at least 44 by 44 points, even where the control looks smaller.
  • Forms have visible labels, autocomplete hints and error messages that are announced.

What does not work well yet

  • The 3D map. It is drawn on a canvas, so the place names and markers painted on it cannot be read by a screen reader, and dragging it needs a pointer or the arrow keys. The region list is the supported alternative. Plots on the map are not individually reachable by keyboard yet.
  • Small type by default. Our default design uses very small glass controls. Larger controls and Dynamic Type fix this, but you may need to turn it on.
  • Footage. Videos are filmed and uploaded by contributors. We do not add captions or audio description to them, and we only show captions where the contributor supplied them. The opening film can be skipped with the Skip button, which is the first control on that screen.
  • Colour. On the map, filmed regions are marked with a ring and a play symbol and held plots with a disc on a pin, so they differ by shape as well as colour. Map layers such as realm and biome shading rely on colour, and the region list names the realm of every region in words.
  • Reports of other limits are welcome below.

Report a problem

If something here is hard or impossible for you to use, tell us what you were doing, which page or screen it was on, and what device and assistive technology you use. We read every report.

The report form is not reachable right now. Please try again in a little while.

Last reviewed 3 October 2026.