Accessibility Statement

Last updated: 21 April 2026.

RetroShell aims to be usable by as many people as possible, regardless of ability or device. This statement describes the standards we target, the techniques we use, known limitations and how to report issues.

Standards

We target Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1, Level AA. The site is progressively enhanced: the core reading experience works with JavaScript disabled, screen-reader software and keyboard-only navigation.

What we have done

  • Semantic HTML throughout: real headings, lists, nav regions, figures, articles and footers.
  • ARIA labels on interactive components (carousel controls, breaking-stories ticker, stage-select tags, site search).
  • Keyboard navigation for every interactive element on the site, including the hero carousel’s previous, next and dot controls.
  • Visible focus states on all focusable elements.
  • Colour contrast tested to WCAG 2.1 AA on the dark default theme.
  • Respect for the prefers-reduced-motion media query: the carousel stops auto-advancing and the ticker stops scrolling for users who prefer reduced motion.
  • Explicit alt text on all editorial images and decorative marking on presentational ones.
  • Text resizing: our layout works up to 200% browser zoom without horizontal scrolling on desktop.

Known limitations

  • Some embedded third-party content (YouTube, Bluesky) may not fully meet our standards; we ask those platforms to do better.
  • The shop at shop.retroshell.com runs on a separate platform (WooCommerce) with its own accessibility profile; we are working on a dedicated accessibility review there.

Reporting problems

If something on the site does not work for you, please tell us: [email protected]. Include the URL, the device and assistive technology you use, and what you were trying to do. We aim to acknowledge within 24 hours and fix within 14 days for high-impact issues.

Ongoing work

Accessibility is a journey, not a switch. Every theme release passes a manual keyboard-and-screen-reader pass. We run automated tooling (axe-core, Lighthouse) on the homepage and a representative post on every release. When we fall short, we publish it here and fix it.