Accessibility statement — the index is for everyone.
Clean water information shouldn’t require perfect vision, a mouse, or fast reflexes. This page describes what we’ve built for accessibility, what standard we hold ourselves to, and how to tell us when we fall short.
LAST REVIEWED: JULY 2026The standard we hold ourselves to
WaterFilterIndex aims to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, Level AA. In the spirit of the rest of this site, we’ll state that claim precisely: our conformance is self-assessed and partial — accessibility is checked as part of our design system and publishing checklist, but we have not yet completed a third-party audit. Where we know of gaps, they’re listed openly on this page, the same way our product reviews list what a filter can’t do.
Accessibility at the Index isn’t a bolt-on: several of our core design decisions — high-contrast text, real HTML tables instead of image tables, calm motion, and plain-language summaries at the top of every article — exist because they make the site better for everyone, including readers using assistive technology.
What we’ve built for accessibility
These aren’t aspirations — they’re properties of the design system every page is built from.
Contrast-checked colors
Text and interface colors are chosen to meet WCAG AA contrast ratios against their backgrounds, including body text, links, and data labels.
Full keyboard navigation
Menus, tools, the A–Z index, and forms are operable by keyboard, with a visible focus outline on every interactive element.
Screen-reader-ready structure
Semantic headings in order, labeled form fields, table captions and header scopes, descriptive link text, and ARIA live regions announcing calculator results.
Meaningful alt text
Diagrams and charts carry alt text describing the decision content — what the visual tells you — not just “chart” or “diagram of water.”
Respect for motion settings
Animations are subtle and short, and the site honors your device’s “reduce motion” preference by switching them off.
Touch-friendly targets
Buttons, inputs, and tappable chips are sized for fingers (44px+), with spacing that prevents accidental taps on mobile.
Readable by design
17px base text, generous line height, a capped line length for comfortable reading, and text that scales cleanly to 200% browser zoom.
Data as data, not images
Comparison tables are real HTML tables — sortable, zoomable, and readable by assistive technology — never screenshots of tables.
What this site is tested with
Browsers & devices
The site is built for current versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge, on desktop and mobile, with layouts tested from 360px phones to widescreen desktops.
Assistive technology
Pages are built to work with screen readers (such as NVDA, JAWS, and VoiceOver), browser zoom to 200%, and keyboard-only navigation. Our interactive tools include non-JavaScript fallbacks — static tables and link-based decision trees — so their content remains available if scripts don’t run.
How we check
Accessibility checks are part of the pre-publish checklist for every page (contrast, headings, alt text, keyboard pass), supplemented by automated tooling. Issues found are treated like factual errors: fixed and logged.
Known limitations
Consistent with how we review products, here’s what we know isn’t perfect yet.
- •Embedded maps: the map on our contact page is a third-party Google Maps embed with limited keyboard and screen-reader support. The full address and a directions link are always provided in text beside it.
- •Third-party form and video embeds: where we embed outside services, their internal accessibility is outside our control; we choose providers with accessibility support and provide text alternatives for essential content.
- •Older or externally produced documents: some linked resources (e.g., government PDFs, manufacturer spec sheets) may not be fully accessible. Where a PDF is essential to a claim, our article states the relevant content in HTML.
Hit a barrier? Tell us — it gets fixed.
If any part of this site is difficult or impossible for you to use, that’s a defect, and we treat it with the same seriousness as a factual error. Tell us the page and what happened; we aim to respond within 2 business days.
[email protected] · Contact form
You can also write to us at 5000 Atlantic Dr, Cheyenne, WY 82001.