Accessibility statement

We aim to meet WCAG 2.1 AA (the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, level AA) across the whole site — readable text and contrast, keyboard navigation, labeled controls, and content that works with screen readers.

WCAG 2.1 AA is the standard we hold ourselves to. We also try to meet two newer WCAG 2.2 rules — bigger tap targets, and keeping the focused control visible — but we do not claim them yet.

Partially conformant, actively improving. Most of the site meets WCAG 2.1 AA, and we test as we build. Some areas are still being brought up to that standard — the known ones are listed below.

• Automated checks on every change. An accessibility scanner (axe) runs against a real build of the site before any change can ship, and blocks any new kind of serious or critical problem on the pages it covers. A short list of problems we already know about is recorded alongside it so they cannot be quietly forgotten — which also means the check does not, today, catch a fresh instance of a problem already on that list. The next point is how we are closing that gap.
• Coming next: every page, every rule. We are extending that check from a sample of pages to every page on the site, at every severity, with a rule that a new page cannot be added without being checked. That work is planned and not finished — we say so here rather than claim it early.
• Hand testing, four times a year. Automated tools catch only part of what matters. Every quarter a person walks the main pages with a screen reader (VoiceOver or NVDA), navigates the site using only a keyboard, checks it at 200% zoom, and checks that nothing relies on color alone. The checklist is public, in our repository, at docs/ACCESSIBILITY.md.

• Easy read. A switch labelled Easy read makes the type bigger across the whole site, drops the background texture behind the words, and darkens the lighter grey text. It is in the Moremenu — the “More” button in the bottom bar on a phone, or at the end of the menu bar on a computer — and also at the top of Kingston basics. The site remembers it on your device.
• A page you can print. The printable pageputs today’s boats and the phone numbers on one sheet of paper, with the site’s menus and footer left off.
• Reduced motion. If your device is set to reduce motion, we turn off the small animations rather than ask you to.

• The interactive maps. The map on the parking page, the town map, and the ferry vessel map are drawn with a mapping library whose canvas is hard to use with a screen reader or a keyboard. We do not consider a map an acceptable only-way to get information, so every map has a list-based alternative that carries the same facts as text:
  • Parking— “Every lot, in words” below the map lists every lot by name, with its parking type spelled out and a plain-language summary of the rules that apply to it.
  • Ferry — the departure board and the written line guidance carry the ferry information without the vessel map.
  • Eat & Drink and Stay — every place on the town map is also a card in these lists, with address, phone, and hours.
  • Kingston basics and the printable page — the shortest text-only route to the boats, the phone numbers, and the parking and restroom basics.
• Third-party embeds. The live webcams and the highway traffic map come from other providers, and we have limited control over their accessibility.
• Business-supplied content. Photos and descriptions written by local businesses are reviewed by the Chamber, but wording and image quality vary.

If something is hard to use, or you hit a barrier, please tell us. Say what page you were on and what happened. It genuinely helps us decide what to fix first.

• Email: info@kingstonchamber.com
• Phone: 360-860-2239

The Chamber office is staffed part time. We aim to reply within five business days, and to tell you what we can fix and when.

If your message is about your own information rather than accessibility, use the data-request form instead.

Public-facing services are increasingly expected to meet WCAG 2.1 AA under the Americans with Disabilities Act. This site is built and operated with the Greater Kingston Chamber of Commerce, and WCAG 2.1 AA is the standard we build to for that reason as much as any other.

Under ADA Title II, the U.S. Department of Justice requires public entities serving fewer than 50,000 people, and special district governments, to meet WCAG 2.1 AA by April 26, 2028. The Chamber is a private nonprofit rather than a public entity, so that deadline does not bind this site directly. We hold ourselves to it anyway — the people it exists to protect use this site too.

That date has moved before: the Department extended it by a year, from April 26, 2027, in a rule effective April 20, 2026. We re-check it whenever we review this statement.

Last reviewed: July 2026. We review this statement at least once a year, and whenever a significant change ships.