Built to be readable, and checked rather than assumed

Contrast is arithmetic. Every text-on-surface pairing on this site was computed from its hex values against the 4.5:1 that body text needs and the 3:1 that large text and graphical objects need — not judged by eye. Body copy on the warm paper is 17.2:1; the recessive copy is 7.6:1; on the cream bands those are 14.1:1 and 6.3:1. One inherited style failed on cream at 4.30:1 and is corrected here rather than worked around per instance.

Nothing means anything by colour alone. The row of arches that runs through this site marks the location that exists with a solid line and the four planned ones with a dashed one — the same colour for both — and each carries its status as a word for screen readers. The current page in the navigation is marked with an underline as well as a colour.

Motion is optional and slight. One entrance animation, on the first screen only, and it is switched off entirely if your system asks for reduced motion. Nothing on this site moves on scroll, autoplays or flashes.

Keyboard first. A skip link ahead of everything else, a visible focus ring on every interactive element at a 4px offset so it is never crowded by its own control, and the menu closes on Escape. There are no keyboard traps because there are no modal overlays.

Text can be resized. The layout is built to hold together at 320px wide with text scaled to 200%, which is the case that breaks most sites. Long words break rather than push the page sideways, buttons wrap their labels rather than overflow, and the wordmark itself sets on two lines on a narrow screen instead of forcing a horizontal scrollbar.

Real structure. One h1 per page, headings in order, real landmarks, and the row of arches is an ordered list because it is an ordered sequence of dates.

High contrast and print. In Windows High Contrast Mode buttons keep a border so they still read as controls, and the printed page turns the warm bands back into ink on white instead of disappearing.