Accessibility

Updated: July 26, 2026

Travel Under Cost is meant to be read by anyone who wants to read it. That includes readers using a keyboard alone, a screen reader, high magnification, a small phone in bright sun, or a browser set to hold motion still. This page describes what the site does about that, where it comes up short today, and how to reach us when something blocks you. We would rather hear about a broken page than assume nobody hit it.

Where we are aiming

We build toward the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, version 2.1, at level AA. That is a target we work against, not a certificate we hold. Nobody has audited this site on our behalf, and we make no claim of full conformance. The guidelines shape the decisions instead: what a heading is for, how much contrast a line of text needs, what a keyboard user can reach, and what a screen reader is told about a form. Where we fall short of the target, we would rather say so on this page than quietly hope it goes unnoticed.

What is built in

The pages are written as documents first. Headings run in order, one h1 per page and no skipped levels, so a screen reader can move by structure instead of guessing. Navigation, main content, and the footer sit in landmark elements. A skip link appears at the top of every page when you press Tab, and it jumps straight past the header into the article.

Color contrast for body text, labels, and buttons meets the AA thresholds against the backgrounds we use, and color is never the only thing carrying meaning. Focus is visible everywhere: every link, button, and field draws a clear outline when it receives keyboard focus, and we never remove that outline without replacing it with something stronger. Tap targets in the header, the footer, the listings, and both forms are at least forty-four pixels on their shorter side, which keeps them usable with a thumb on a moving bus.

Motion is minimal by design. Entries fade up gently as they enter the viewport, nothing spins, nothing autoplays, and no element demands attention on a loop. When a browser reports a preference for reduced motion, those transitions are switched off entirely and the content simply appears. If scripting is unavailable, every word on the site is still visible; the animation classes only apply once scripting has run.

Every image carries alternative text describing what it shows and, where it matters, the season and light. Decorative marks such as the logo and the editor's monogram are handled so they do not clutter a screen reader with noise. Text resizes with the browser rather than being locked in place, and the layout holds together at high zoom on a narrow screen.

Both forms on the site, the reader note on the Contact page and the signup for The Odometer on the home page, use visible labels above each field. Nothing depends on placeholder text alone. Required fields are marked in the markup as well as in the wording. When something does not validate, the message appears in text next to the form, in a color we also back up with words, so the error is readable and not merely red.

Known limitations

Two things fall short today, and we are naming them rather than waiting to be asked. First, the listings use a narrow left column of numbers for hours, miles, and season. Read linearly, those numbers arrive before the headline they belong to, which can feel abrupt even though each one is labeled. We are testing a clearer arrangement.

Second, the illustrations are interpretive rather than documentary, so their alternative text conveys light, season, and terrain instead of naming a spot. A reader who cannot see an image misses nothing a sighted reader receives, yet neither one learns a location from it. Beyond those two, the site depends on your browser's own handling of a self-hosted typeface, and on a phone with a very old browser the header may wrap in a way we did not intend.

Telling us about a barrier

If any part of this site keeps you from reading it, write to milepost@travelundercost.com. Tell us the page address, what you were trying to do, and what happened instead. If you know the browser, the device, or the assistive software you were using, include that too, though we can usually work without it. You can also reach us by telephone at +1 (304) 346-2140 during our published hours, which are Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm, Eastern Time.

We answer accessibility reports within three business days. If a fix is quick, we make it and tell you when it ships. If it is larger, we say what we intend to do and give you a rough sense of when. Where an issue cannot be solved soon, we will offer the content another way, such as a plain-text version of the article sent by email.

When this page was reviewed

This statement was last reviewed on July 26, 2026, against the pages published on that date. We revisit it whenever the layout changes in a meaningful way, and at least once a year otherwise. Related reading sits in the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy, and general questions about the journal are answered in the FAQ.

Reader reports carry more weight here than any checklist, so a single message about one stubborn page will move ahead of scheduled work.