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OTBA Legislative Committee · Candidate video interviews

Accessibility

This site is built to be usable by everyone, including people using a screen reader, a keyboard, magnification, or captions. That is a requirement of the work rather than a feature of it: a voter education site that some voters cannot use is not doing its job.

The standard we build to

We aim to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 at level AA. That is the standard referenced by the Americans with Disabilities Act in practice and by Section 508.

What that means here

  • Every color pair used for text has been contrast tested rather than assumed. Body text sits far above the required ratio.
  • The whole site can be operated with a keyboard alone, and the focus indicator is always visible.
  • A skip link goes straight to the content.
  • Headings follow a real hierarchy, so a screen reader user can navigate by heading rather than reading everything.
  • Text resizes and reflows without breaking the layout or forcing horizontal scrolling.
  • Nothing moves, flashes, or plays automatically. No video autoplays.
  • Tap targets are large enough to hit on a phone.
  • The site respects a reduced-motion preference and Windows high contrast mode.
  • Every video has corrected English captions. Automatic captions alone do not meet the standard, so they are reviewed and fixed.
  • Spanish subtitles are reviewed by a fluent speaker rather than left as machine translation.

Known limitations

Videos are hosted on YouTube, so the player itself is YouTube’s, and its accessibility is outside our control. If the player is a barrier for you, contact us and we will provide the interview in another form.

Transcripts are not yet posted as text on each candidate page. Captions are available on every video. If you need a full transcript, ask and we will send one.

If something does not work for you

Tell us and we will fix it. Describe the page and what happened, and we will respond and say what we changed. If you need any part of this program’s content in another format, we will provide it.

Accessibility problems on this site are treated as defects, not requests.

EDITOR NOTE, DELETE THIS PARAGRAPH: add the contact email and a response time commitment you can actually keep, for example five business days.

Voting accessibility

Questions about accessible voting, curbside voting, or assistance at a polling place are handled by the registrar, not by us. Contact the Portsmouth Office of the General Registrar at 757-393-8644 or visit elections.virginia.gov.