Accessibility of Cultured Eye
We want as many people as possible to be able to use Cultured Eye, however they read, see or navigate. This page describes how the site meets accessibility requirements, which shortcomings we know of and how to let us know if something does not work.
Partially compliant with WCAG 2.1 level AA
Our aim is for the whole site – art, architecture and design – to meet WCAG 2.1 at level AA, the standard that the EU and Sweden refer to. The pages can be used with a keyboard, have headings and landmarks for screen readers, can be zoomed and adapt to narrow screens. Animations are switched off when you have chosen reduced motion in your operating system.
We know that parts of the site are not fully accessible. The shortcomings are described under Content that is not accessible below.
Most of the content is also available as text: the diagrams have explanatory texts or lists, the places on the maps can be selected with a keyboard and are listed beside the map, and longer texts on periods, artists, works and buildings can be read aloud with the Listen button.
The Swedish Act (2018:1937) on accessibility to digital public services applies to public authorities and other public bodies. The Agency for Digital Government (DIGG) supervises it. Cultured Eye is published privately and is not covered by the Act, but we voluntarily follow DIGG’s template for accessibility statements.
The Swedish Act (2023:254) on the accessibility of certain products and services, which implements the EU accessibility directive (European Accessibility Act), has applied since 28 June 2025 to certain consumer services, including e-commerce, banking services and e-books. Cultured Eye sells nothing and, in our assessment, is not one of the services the Act lists. We nevertheless aim for the same standard, WCAG 2.1 level AA.
The site is partially compliant with WCAG 2.1 level AA, due to the shortcomings described below.
Images from other sources have short text alternatives. The images of artworks, buildings and objects come from Wikimedia Commons and the museums’ open collections. Their text alternatives consist of the title, the maker and the year, and seldom describe the subject itself. The most important details of a work are described in the text on its page instead.
Interactive diagrams are harder to perceive without sight. The timelines, the network of artists and architects, the swarm of works, the colour wheel and the interactive drawings can be used with a keyboard and have text alternatives, but not every connection visible in the picture is as easy to follow with a screen reader. Some exercises, such as placing a building on the map or pointing out part of a drawing, require pointing in an image. The same knowledge can be practised with multiple-choice questions.
The maps are mainly visual. The maps of museums, buildings and artists’ lives show places as dots. The dots can be selected with a keyboard and the places are also listed, but distances and geographical relationships are only conveyed by the image.
Some content is not translated. In English, French, Italian and Spanish, content that has not yet been translated is shown in Swedish. The language of such passages is not always marked for screen readers, so they may be read aloud with the wrong pronunciation.
Small text on coloured panels. Small labels on coloured cards and bands have in a few places had too little contrast. The problems found by the automated tests have been fixed, but the design section is currently being redone and may still have the odd panel with too weak contrast.
Third-party content. Google’s consent dialogue for advertising and the adverts themselves, when shown, come from Google. We cannot influence how accessible they are. Links to museums, Wikidata and other sources lead to websites with their own accessibility terms.
We have reviewed the site ourselves. A selection of pages in all three sections – the home page, periods, artists, works, buildings, styles, objects, glossaries, exercises, search and the about pages – is tested automatically with the axe tool against the WCAG 2.1 level A and AA success criteria. The tests are run when the site changes, and serious and critical findings count as faults to be fixed before a new version is published.
In addition, we have gone through the pages using only a keyboard, with browser zoom, on a screen 360 pixels wide and with reduced motion switched on.
The most recent assessment was made on 21 October 2026.