Accessibility
Designing for more ways of looking
Last reviewed: 2026-09-29
Art Says Hi aims to meet WCAG 2.2 level AA across the website and the browser scanner. Looking, reading, and scanning should all work without a mouse, at larger text sizes, and with a screen reader.
This statement describes what is in place today and what still needs work. The site has not been through a formal audit or certification, so this is a working commitment rather than a finished claim.
What supports access today
These are in place across the site now:
- Keyboard access: every page can be reached and used without a mouse, and a skip link at the top of each page jumps straight to the content.
- Visible focus: a clear outline marks the element you are on when you move through the page by keyboard.
- Reduced motion: when your system or browser asks for less motion, animations and transitions are disabled.
- Zoom and reflow: the layout is responsive from 320px upward, so enlarging text reflows the page instead of forcing sideways scrolling.
- Image descriptions: artwork, guide, and editorial images carry alt text that names the work and describes what is visible. AI-generated editorial illustrations are labelled as illustrations, not photographs of the work.
- Readable controls: links and buttons are labelled in words, tap targets are sized for touch, and form fields keep visible labels.
What a reading gives you
An Art Says Hi reading is written text. The scanner describes what an image shows in words — visible details first, then documented context, then interpretation — so a result can be read aloud, enlarged, copied, or translated.
A photo you choose appears as a visual preview before you start a reading. The site cannot describe that photo until the reading runs, so the preview is labelled as your selected image rather than given a description it does not have.
Known limitations
Accessibility work continues as the site grows. What we know about today:
- Artwork and example images have short alt text naming and briefly describing each work; they do not replace the full visual detail a guide discusses.
- Readings are written only. There is no audio or spoken version of a result yet.
- Sources link out to museum, archive, and publisher websites whose accessibility we do not control.
Tell us about a barrier
If something on this site blocks you — a control you cannot reach, a description that is missing, a layout that breaks when text is enlarged — email hello@artsayshi.app with “Accessibility” in the subject line. Tell us the page address, what you were trying to do, and the browser and device you use, and we will look at it.