Accessibility: keyboard, screen reader, zoom and motion

4Search is built from ordinary web page parts: links, buttons, headings and form controls. That means the keyboard, a screen reader, browser zoom and your device's motion setting all work with it the way they work on other pages. This page lists what has been checked, so you know what to expect.

#With a keyboard

Every control is a real link, button or form field, so Tab reaches it and Shift+Tab goes back. Enter follows a link or presses a button.

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1. The focus outline is a teal line around whatever has keyboard focus. It appears when you use the keyboard.
2. The next stop after the tabs is the search box.

The order on the home page follows the page from top to bottom: Home, the colour theme button, Menu, the logo, the tabs, the search box and its button, the filter row, the topics list, the stories and then the footer.

• In the search box, ↓ and ↑ move through suggestions, Enter chooses one and Esc closes the list.
• Esc closes an open menu or the Topics list.
• The privacy choices panel is a dialog. Esc closes it, Tab stays inside it while it is open, and its close button is labeled.
• Finance charts and the weather radar map can be focused and steered with the arrow keys. Keyboard shortcuts lists every key.

#With a screen reader

The page uses landmarks and headings, so you can jump between its parts.

• Landmarks. The page has a banner, a Primary navigation, a search form called Site search form, the main content, navigation regions named Search topics and Front page, and a Footer with Site links and Privacy navigation.
• Headings. The page's main heading is its tagline, topic groups are headings, and each story's headline is a heading.
• The search box is labeled Search and works as a combobox. When suggestions appear, the screen reader is told the list is open, and it reads the highlighted suggestion as you move.
• Buttons have names. For example Submit search, Clear search, Open main menu, Open topics menu, and Follow Sports on a topic's star. The colour theme button reads out the current theme and what pressing it does, for example Colour theme: Hybrid. Switch to Light.
• Notices are announced. The line that says 4Search chose a tab for you is a status message.
• A story's tone is available as text, such as Tone: positive, not only as a colored bar.
• Pictures. The logo has a text description. The small pictures on story cards are decorative, and the headline carries the meaning.

#With zoom or low vision

• Zoom works. You can zoom the page in your browser, and on a phone you can pinch to zoom. The layout adapts to narrow widths; the tab row and filter row slide sideways instead of shrinking. See 4Search on your phone.
• Three colour themes. Hybrid is the default, with a dark header around light content. Light makes the header light too, and Dark darkens the content. Pick one with the button in the header or the chooser in the footer; the site remembers it in this browser. 4Search does not follow your device's dark mode on its own, so choose Dark yourself. See Choose Hybrid, Light or Dark.

#With reduced motion

If your device is set to reduce motion, the site turns off its animations and transitions. The tagline under the logo still changes between its two lines, but without a fade.

#What can limit access

The Accessibility statement says 4Search works toward Level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, version 2.2, where reasonably applicable, and that it does not claim every page or every outside component meets it. Parts that come from outside services, such as the Google-hosted web results, AI providers, advertising and retailers, may have limits that 4Search does not control. Older or unsupported browsers may not give the same experience.

If you meet a barrier, tell 4Search. Use the contact form and choose Accessibility, or follow the contact details in the Accessibility statement. Say which page or feature, what happened, and which browser and assistive technology you use.

Open the Accessibility statement

#Common questions

Is there a skip link to jump past the menus?

No. Use the landmarks and headings of the page, or Tab through. On a results page the main content follows the topics list.

Does 4Search work with my screen reader?

It uses standard links, buttons, headings and landmarks, which screen readers handle. The statement says assistive technology support is a goal for current versions of the major browsers and commonly used tools. If something does not read correctly, report it so it can be fixed.

Can I make the text larger?

Yes. Use your browser's zoom, or the text size settings of your device. Pinch to zoom works on a phone.

Can I turn off the changing tagline?

Not on the page itself. If your device is set to reduce motion, the change has no fade.