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CostsNYC

A public comment and civic education tool for New Yorkers.

Accessibility Statement

Last updated: April 23, 2026

CostsNYC is committed to making this website accessible to all users, including people with disabilities. We strive to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

Our Commitment

We believe civic participation tools must be usable by every New Yorker — including people who use screen readers, keyboard navigation, voice control software, or other assistive technologies.

CostsNYC is built and maintained with accessibility as a design constraint, not an afterthought. Each sprint review includes an explicit accessibility audit, and we track known gaps in our public WCAG roadmap.

Technical Standards

This website targets conformance with WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Key technical measures implemented include:

Perceivable

  • All meaningful images have descriptive alt text. Decorative images use an empty alt="" attribute so screen readers skip them.
  • Color is never the sole means of conveying information. Active navigation state uses both color and shape/border.
  • Text meets or exceeds 4.5:1 contrast ratio against its background in both light and dark modes.
  • Body text uses a scalable rem-based system. Pages reflow correctly at 200% zoom without horizontal scrolling.
  • No content auto-plays audio or video.

Operable

  • All interactive elements are fully keyboard-accessible (Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter, Space, arrow keys where applicable).
  • A “Skip to main content” link appears at the top of every page for keyboard users — it becomes visible on focus.
  • Focus indicators are visible on all interactive elements using a 2px teal outline.
  • Touch and click targets meet or exceed 44×44 pixels on all interactive controls.
  • No timed interactions require action within a set time limit.
  • No content flashes more than three times per second.

Understandable

  • The page language is declared on every page (<html lang="en">).
  • Navigation is consistent in position and labeling across all pages.
  • Each page has a unique, descriptive <title> element.
  • The active page is communicated to screen readers via aria-current="page".
  • Animated transitions respect the prefers-reduced-motion system preference — all animations are disabled when this preference is set.

Robust

  • HTML is semantic and standards-compliant.
  • ARIA landmark roles (main, nav, header, footer) are used where appropriate.
  • Interactive tab panels (Learn hub media picker) use role="tablist", role="tab", role="tabpanel", and aria-selected for screen reader compatibility.
  • The site is compatible with current versions of major browsers and assistive technologies.
  • Dark mode preserves all contrast ratios. The color scheme preference from the OS is respected on initial load and stored locally.

ADA Compatibility Statement

CostsNYC is designed to be compatible with the assistive technologies used by individuals with disabilities protected under Title II and Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.

We test against and target compatibility with:

  • Screen readers: NVDA + Firefox (Windows), VoiceOver + Safari (macOS/iOS), TalkBack (Android)
  • Keyboard-only navigation
  • Voice recognition software: Dragon NaturallySpeaking and comparable tools
  • Browser zoom: up to 200% without loss of content or functionality
  • Forced-color / high-contrast display modes

If you encounter any barrier using assistive technology on this site, please contact us so we can address it.

Known Limitations

We are actively working to close the following gaps. We document them here in the interest of transparency.

AreaIssueStatus
Mobile navigationNo hamburger menu; mobile nav uses a scrollable pill-row accessible by touch and keyboardIn progress
Form error messagingInline error messages with role="alert" not fully implemented on all formsIn progress
Audio contentWizard-linked audio does not yet have an attached text transcriptPlanned
aria-pressed on theme toggleCurrent state (light/dark) not programmatically announced on toggle activationPlanned

Feedback & Contact

We welcome feedback on the accessibility of CostsNYC. If you experience barriers, have difficulty using any part of this site, or need information in an alternative format, please reach out:

Email: costsnyc@proton.me

We aim to respond to accessibility feedback within 5 business days.

Formal Complaints

If you are not satisfied with our response or need to escalate, you may contact:

  • U.S. Department of Justice — ADA Information Line: ada.gov · 1-800-514-0301
  • U.S. Access Board — Section 508: access-board.gov
  • New York State Division of Human Rights: dhr.ny.gov

This statement was prepared on April 23, 2026, based on a self-assessment conducted using axe browser tooling, manual keyboard testing, and VoiceOver screen reader testing.