Costa Rica Species
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Accessibility

Built for everyone

Costa Rica Species is committed to being usable by all people, regardless of ability or technology. Here is where we stand today and where we are headed.

Last updated: April 2026

Our commitment

We believe that access to biodiversity knowledge should have no barriers. We are actively working to meet and exceed WCAG 2.1 AA standards. This is an ongoing effort — not a checkbox.

What we have today

  • Semantic HTML — Proper heading hierarchy, landmark regions (main, nav, footer), and meaningful element structure throughout the app.
  • Image alt text — All species and habitat photos include descriptive alternative text for screen readers.
  • Keyboard navigation — Core navigation and interactive elements are reachable and operable via keyboard.
  • Responsive design — The catalog adapts to all screen sizes, from large desktops to mobile phones.
  • High contrast text — Body text meets WCAG AA contrast requirements against our background colors.

Coming in future releases

We are actively designing the following features. Your feedback shapes the priority order.

Color Vision Deficiency Modes

Coming soon

Dedicated visual themes for the three main types of color blindness, ensuring all information communicated through color is also available through shape, pattern, or label.

  • Protanopia & deuteranopia mode (red-green color blindness)
  • Tritanopia mode (blue-yellow color blindness)
  • Pattern and icon indicators as color-independent alternatives
  • Adjustable contrast and saturation controls

Screen Reader & Full Keyboard Support

Coming soon

Complete assistive technology support so every part of the catalog is navigable without a mouse, with meaningful announcements for dynamic content changes.

  • Full ARIA labeling on all interactive elements and live regions
  • Skip-to-content and skip-to-search links
  • Complete keyboard navigation with visible focus indicators
  • Descriptive text alternatives for habitat maps and charts
  • Screen-reader-friendly species data tables

Suggest an improvement

Have an accessibility need we have not addressed? Tell us. Every suggestion is reviewed by our team.

Accessibility