Accessibility
This website targets WCAG 2.2 AA. The station itself cannot.
Two separate matters are addressed here: the standard this site is built to, and why the structure thirty-two miles offshore cannot be made accessible.
Statement last reviewed July 21, 2026
Conformance
Targeting WCAG 2.2 Level AA, self-assessed.
This site is built to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 at Level AA. That assessment is our own, made by testing the site against the guidelines rather than through an independent third-party audit. This statement therefore describes a self-assessment, not an audited conformance claim.
- Keyboard
- Every control is reachable and operable by keyboard, in a logical order. A skip link bypasses the navigation. Focus is always visible — a 2px brass ring with an offset, verified against both light and dark backgrounds.
- Structure
- One H1 per page, headings in order, landmarks for navigation and main content, and a breadcrumb trail on every page below the home page.
- Contrast
- Body and interface text meets the 4.5:1 minimum against its background; large display text meets 3:1. Colour is never the sole means of conveying meaning.
- Target size
- No interactive target is smaller than 24×24 CSS pixels, which is the 2.2 Level AA requirement. Most are 44px or larger.
- Motion
- prefers-reduced-motion stops every animation on the site, including the beacon, and disables smooth scrolling. Nothing is hidden when motion is disabled.
- Without JavaScript
- Page content is server-rendered, and the reveal animation's hidden state is applied only when JavaScript is running, so with scripting disabled nothing is ever concealed. The FAQ uses native disclosure elements and requires no script.
- Images
- Archival photographs carry descriptive alternative text. Decorative marks and rules are hidden from assistive technology rather than given uninformative labels.
Known limitations
Where this site falls short.
No third-party accessibility audit has been carried out, and the site has not been tested with a panel of screen reader users. Testing to date has been by keyboard, by assistive-technology inspection, and against the guidelines themselves. The distinction is stated here deliberately.
- The history timeline
- On wide screens the timeline scrolls horizontally within its own container. It is keyboard-focusable and scrollable, and the same content reads as a simple vertical list on narrow screens, but a horizontally scrolling region remains harder to use than a static one.
- Long-form pages
- The newer pages are dense reading. There is no summary mode and no text-size control beyond your browser's own zoom, which the layout supports to 200% without loss of content.
- Third-party destinations
- Links leaving this site, including the stewardship portal, fall outside this statement, and no claims are made for them here.
The physical station
The structure is not accessible, and cannot be made so.
This is stated plainly because it determines whether a visit is possible. Reaching the station requires a boat or helicopter transfer in open ocean onto a fixed steel platform, followed by a climb. Movement between levels is by vertical ladder and steep industrial stair. There is no elevator, no ramp, no accessible sanitary facility and no accessible route anywhere on the platform.
The station was built in 1964 to a design adapted from offshore drilling platforms, for a working Coast Guard crew, and its geometry does not permit accessible access to be created. Visitors must be able to make that climb unassisted.
Where the station's story can be made accessible, it will be: through this site, through imagery, and through the educational material the restoration produces. That commitment concerns the content, and is not offered as a substitute for physical access.
Feedback
Report anything that does not work.
If any part of this site is difficult or impossible for you to use, we want to know — including the parts believed to be sound. Please write to the station inbox describing the page, what you were attempting, and what occurred. Details of your browser and any assistive technology in use are particularly helpful. Messages are read and answered.
Report an accessibility problem
station@fpsls.com — messages are read and answered. Please include the page, what you were attempting, and what occurred. Details of your browser and any assistive technology in use are particularly helpful.
