Accessibility

Last updated: March 2026

Cactus Watch is a civic tool, and civic tools should be usable by everyone. We are committed to making this site accessible to all people, including those who use assistive technologies.

Our goal

We aim to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards across the entire site. This is an ongoing effort, and we continue to improve.

What we have done

Semantic HTML: The site uses proper heading hierarchy, landmark regions (header, main, nav, footer), and semantic elements like article for bill cards.
Keyboard navigation: All interactive elements (buttons, links, form controls, bill cards) are reachable and operable via keyboard. The Escape key closes overlays and popovers.
Screen reader support: Interactive elements include ARIA labels and roles. Tab navigation uses role="tablist" and aria-selected. The bill detail panel uses role="dialog".
Color contrast: Text and interactive elements meet WCAG AA contrast ratios against their backgrounds. Status badges and party indicators use both color and text labels.
Responsive design: The layout adapts to all screen sizes, from mobile phones to wide desktop monitors. Touch targets are sized appropriately for mobile use.
Focus management: Focus indicators are visible on all interactive elements. When overlays open, focus is managed appropriately.
Text resizing: The layout accommodates browser text zoom up to 200% without loss of content or functionality.

Known limitations

The bill timeline visualization in the detail view is primarily visual. The same information is available in the text content of the detail panel.
Some dynamically loaded content (bill lists, search results) may not immediately announce updates to screen readers in all cases. We are working to improve live region announcements.

Reporting issues

If you encounter an accessibility barrier on Cactus Watch, we want to hear about it. Please email accessibility@cactus.watch with:

A description of the issue
The page or feature where it occurred
Your browser and assistive technology (if applicable)

We take accessibility reports seriously and will work to resolve issues promptly.

Open source

Cactus Watch is open source. If you spot an accessibility issue in the code, you are welcome to open an issue or submit a pull request.

Cactus Watch · Privacy Policy