Public data should be usable by everyone.

Our target is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at Level AA. We design and review new pages against it.

The site has not been independently audited, so we do not claim full conformance. We would rather say that plainly than publish a badge we cannot back up.

• Keyboard access. A “Skip to content” link is the first stop on every page, and buttons, links, and form fields show a visible focus ring.
• Structure for screen readers. Pages use landmarks, ordered headings, and breadcrumb navigation, and the page language is declared.
• Readable text. We check body text against a 4.5:1 contrast ratio, and the site has both a light and a dark theme.
• Zoom. Pinch-zoom and browser zoom are left on, and layouts reflow rather than scrolling sideways on small screens.
• Reduced motion. If your device asks for less motion, the site's animations are switched off or cut back.
• Data without the chart. The state rankings are published as a ranked table as well as a map, and the underlying figures are downloadable from the data hub.

These are the places we expect the site to fall short today:

• The interactive map and charts are visual first. They can be harder to use with a screen reader or keyboard than the tables that carry the same numbers. The rankings table is the more reliable route to state scores.
• Wide data tables scroll horizontally on narrow screens.
• Photos and images of officials come from public sources and may carry only a name as their description.
• Testing has been partial. We have not tested every page with every screen reader and browser combination, so there will be problems we have not found.

We link to source material published by government agencies and research institutes, including PDFs and spreadsheets. We cannot fix accessibility problems in those documents, but if one blocks you from a figure we cite, tell us and we will try to give you the number another way.

If something on the site does not work for you, email support@freedomrankings.com. It helps to include:

• the page address,
• what you were trying to do and what happened instead,
• the browser and any assistive technology you were using (for example a screen reader, voice control, or magnification).

If you need information from a page in a different format, ask at the same address.

We update this page when the site changes in a way that affects it. The “Last updated” date at the top reflects the most recent revision.