Accessibility Statement

1. Our Commitment to Accessibility

How's the Spot (“we”, “us”, “our”) is committed to making the Service accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. We believe that information about coastal and snorkeling conditions should be available to all, and we design and build the Service with accessibility in mind from the outset.

This Accessibility Statement applies to the howsthespot.com website. It explains the conformance level we aim for, the accessibility features we support, the limitations we are aware of, and how you can get in touch.

2. Conformance Level

We aim to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 Level AA across the public areas of the Service. We are partially conformant with WCAG 2.2 Level AA: most of the Service is designed to meet the standard, and we are continually working towards fuller conformance. We do not claim full or perfect conformance.

To support that aim, we test the Service against a range of accessibility requirements, including colour contrast, logical heading order, visible focus and keyboard/focus management, touch-target sizing, and ARIA live regions for status messages. We run automated and end-to-end accessibility checks (such as axe-core via our Playwright test suite and Lighthouse) alongside our component and unit tests, and we carry out manual keyboard and assistive-technology testing.

3. Accessibility Features We Support

The Service includes and is tested for the following accessibility features:

• Semantic structure and headings. Pages use a logical heading outline (a single h1 followed by descending levels) so screen-reader users can navigate by heading.
• Keyboard navigation. All interactive elements are reachable and operable with a keyboard; dialogs can be closed with the Escape key.
• Visible focus and focus management. Interactive elements show a clear focus indicator, and modal dialogs trap focus while open and return focus to the triggering element when closed.
• Descriptive labels and ARIA. Form controls have associated labels, condition scores and controls carry accessible names, and decorative icons are hidden from assistive technology.
• WCAG AA colour contrast. Text and user-interface components are designed to meet minimum contrast, and colour is never the only indicator — we pair colour with icons and text.
• Text resizing. Content is designed to remain readable and usable when text is enlarged (for example, at 200% zoom) without horizontal scrolling.
• Accessible in-page navigation. Long-form pages like this one provide a table of contents with anchor links to each section.
• Accessible maps. Where the Service shows interactive maps, we provide a text or list-based alternative and remove map controls from the keyboard focus and assistive-technology order.
• Respect for reduced motion. We honour the prefers-reduced-motion setting so motion can be minimised for users who prefer it.
• Accessible forms and error messaging. Errors are identified, described, and associated with their fields, and success and error messages are announced.
• Consent-banner accessibility. Our cookie consent banner is keyboard operable with managed focus.

4. Compatibility with Assistive Technologies

The Service is designed to work with current versions of major modern browsers, including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, and Microsoft Edge.

We test against assistive technologies as part of our accessibility work. Our manual testing includes keyboard-only navigation and screen readers, such as NVDA on Windows and VoiceOver on macOS. We cannot guarantee full compatibility with every browser, device, or assistive-technology combination, or with older versions, but we work to address issues that are reported to us.

5. Known Limitations & Third-Party Content

We are continuously improving the accessibility of the Service. The following limitations are currently known to us.

Interactive maps

Some interactive map functionality (such as full keyboard panning and zooming) may be limited. Where maps are used, we provide a text or list-based alternative so the underlying information remains available without the map.

Third-party and embedded content

Some content we display is sourced from or provided by third parties, including interactive maps, wildlife imagery sourced from services such as iNaturalist, and third-party sign-in (such as Google). Aspects of this embedded or third-party content may be outside our full control. If you encounter a barrier in such content, please let us know and we will provide an accessible alternative where we can.

User-generated community content

Community reports are moderated and sanitised to preserve semantic markup, but user-supplied text or images may occasionally affect accessibility. Please report any issues you encounter and we will follow them up.

6. Reporting an Issue or Requesting an Accessible Alternative

If you experience any difficulty accessing the Service, or if you need content in a different accessible format, please contact us. We take accessibility feedback seriously and will provide an accessible alternative where possible.

What to include in your report

• The web address (URL) of the page you were using.
• What you were trying to do and what happened instead.
• The browser, device, and assistive technology you were using, if known.
• How we can best help you.

Please send reports and requests to [email protected].

7. Feedback & Continuous Improvement

We treat accessibility as an ongoing commitment rather than a one-off task. We act on the feedback we receive, test our changes, and review the Service as features and standards evolve. Suggestions for improvement are always welcome.

8. Changes to This Statement

We may update this Accessibility Statement from time to time to reflect changes to the Service, our testing, or the accessibility standards we aim to meet. When we make changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this statement periodically.

9. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Accessibility Statement or the accessibility of the Service, please contact us at: