Accessibility Statement

The Chesapeake Bay Trust is committed to making our digital presence accessible to everyone, regardless of ability. Our goal is to meet WCAG 2.1 AA compliance standards.

Assessment of the current cbtrust.org

During the redesign process, we audited the existing site and identified several key issues that we are addressing in this new design:

Color Contrast

Issue: Gold/teal buttons failed the 4.5:1 contrast requirement.

Fix: The redesign updates the color palette to ensure all text and actionable elements meet or exceed contrast minimums.

Interactive Maps

Issue: The ArcGIS map lacked keyboard and screen reader accessibility.

Fix: Providing data tables and text alternatives for all spatial data.

Document Accessibility

Issue: PDFs lacked tagged headings and proper structural markup.

Fix: Moving content to HTML where possible, and instituting an accessible PDF policy.

Heading Hierarchy

Issue: Pages skipped heading levels (e.g., H1 jumping to H4).

Fix: Enforcing strict semantic HTML structure throughout the new theme.

Dynamic Content

Issue: Dynamic grant filtering didn't announce results to screen readers.

Fix: Implementing ARIA live regions for all dynamic search and filter functions.

Form Controls

Issue: Form inputs relied on placeholders instead of persistent labels.

Fix: All forms now use explicit, visible <label> elements tied to inputs.

Feedback

If you encounter any barriers while using this site, please let us know so we can address them.

Email: accessibility@cbtrust.org