Trakkr Check a Station
accessible Accessibility

Accessibility Statement

Last reviewed: April 30, 2026

Our commitment: Trakkr is built for everyone who rides New York City transit — including riders who use screen readers, keyboards, magnification, voice control, or who depend on accessible station equipment to navigate the system. Accessibility is a core part of why we built this tool, not an afterthought.

1. Standards we follow

Trakkr aims to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA, the standard recognized under Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act and referenced by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). We continuously test against these criteria as the site evolves.

2. What we've built in

Keyboard navigation

  • All interactive elements — search, navigation, the Feedback button, blog cards, and the dashboard — are reachable and operable using only the Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter, and Space keys.
  • Visible focus indicators are preserved on all controls.
  • No keyboard traps. You can always tab away from any focused element.

Screen reader support

  • Pages use semantic HTML landmarks (<header>, <main>, <footer>, <nav>, <section>, <article>) so screen readers can announce structure correctly.
  • Form fields use associated <label> elements; the floating Feedback button has an aria-label.
  • Decorative icons are visual only; meaningful icons sit alongside text labels so they aren't required to understand a control.
  • The dashboard exposes station results as text in addition to visual map markers.

Visual design

  • Body text targets a minimum 4.5:1 contrast ratio against its background; large display headings target 3:1 or better.
  • Color is never the only way information is conveyed — risk levels use both color (red / amber / green) and text labels (HIGH RISK / MONITOR / SAFE).
  • Layouts respond down to 320px wide and zoom up to 200% without losing content or functionality.

Motion

  • Animations on the homepage, blog cards, and live indicators are subtle and short.
  • If your operating system has "Reduce motion" enabled, decorative animations are minimized in line with the prefers-reduced-motion media query.

3. Accessibility for transit riders

Beyond website-level accessibility, Trakkr's product is itself designed to surface accessibility-critical transit information that other tools obscure:

  • ADA flagging on equipment alerts: URGENT-rated elevator and escalator predictions explicitly mark units that are part of a station's accessible path.
  • Live ADA-impact status: The MTA live feed panel labels current outages as "ADA OK" or "ADA IMPACTED" so riders who depend on accessibility can plan a reroute before they're stranded.
  • Plain-language verdicts: Predictions are summarized in everyday language (SAFE / CAUTION / HIGH RISK; LOW / MONITOR / URGENT) rather than raw probabilities, so the information is usable in seconds.

4. Known limitations

We're transparent about what isn't perfect yet:

  • Map controls: The interactive map on the dashboard relies on Leaflet, which has good but not perfect screen-reader integration. We provide text equivalents for all stations returned in search results.
  • Embedded third-party widgets: The Buy Me a Coffee button is loaded from a third-party CDN and may not fully match our keyboard/focus standards. You can ignore it without affecting any core functionality.
  • Auto-translated content: Trakkr is currently English-only. Browser translation tools work, but we have not optimized for non-English screen reader output.

If you encounter another barrier we haven't listed here, please tell us — we treat reports as priority bugs.

5. Reporting an issue

If something on Trakkr is hard or impossible for you to use, we want to hear about it directly. Please use the feedback page and select "Bug report" — note that you're reporting an accessibility issue. Tell us:

  • The page or feature involved (URL is helpful).
  • The assistive technology you were using (screen reader name, browser, OS).
  • What you expected versus what happened.

We aim to respond within five business days and to ship a fix as quickly as the issue allows.

6. Continuous improvement

Accessibility is never "done." We review accessibility against WCAG 2.1 AA on each significant release, run automated checks (axe, Lighthouse), and incorporate feedback from real users of assistive technology. As the project grows, we will keep this statement updated.

7. Contact

Accessibility questions, feedback, or assistance requests can be sent through the feedback page. We read every message.

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