This site is built to meet WCAG 2.2 AA, and four known gaps are listed here.
The information about Duke University admissions, programs and a campus visit should be usable by keyboard, by screen reader, at 400% zoom and on a 320px phone. Where it is not yet, this statement says so and tells you how to get the same information another way.
The standard we build to
The target is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 at level AA, published by the W3C. That covers every page on duke.us.org: the reference pages, the route and timeline checker, the inquiry forms, the cookie banner and the support chat.
Our status is partial conformance. Most of the site meets AA. The exceptions are listed under known limits, with a date by which each one is reviewed. We would rather publish a partial claim we can defend than a full one we cannot.
What is built in
These are checked on every page before it ships, not added afterwards.
- A skip link as the first focusable element, jumping past the sidebar to the main content.
- One h1 per page and headings that nest in order, so a screen reader's heading list reads like a contents page.
- Every control is at least 44 by 44 CSS pixels. Buttons grow with their labels instead of clipping them.
- A visible focus ring in rust with a cream gap, at a contrast of at least 3:1 against both backgrounds it sits on.
- Body text in charcoal on cream exceeds 12:1 contrast. Muted mono labels are kept above 4.5:1.
- The mobile drawer traps focus while open and closes with Esc. Focus returns to the menu button.
- Form errors are written in words next to the field, linked by aria-describedby, and never shown by colour alone.
- Motion respects the reduced-motion setting: the sticky figure column becomes plain stacked figures, and the drawn leader lines on the home page plate appear fully drawn.
- Photographs carry alt text describing what is happening in them. Icons are decorative and hidden from assistive technology.
- Layout reflows from 320px wide to ultrawide with no horizontal scroll. Wide tables become labelled blocks on a phone.
How it was tested
Keyboard only, in current Firefox, Chrome and Safari. NVDA with Firefox on Windows. VoiceOver with Safari on macOS and on iOS. TalkBack with Chrome on Android. Browser zoom at 200% and 400%. Text spacing overrides as described in success criterion 1.4.12. Automated checks run as a first pass only; they catch perhaps a third of real problems, so every page also gets a manual pass.
Known limits
Four issues are open. Each has a workaround you can use today.
| Where | The barrier | Workaround now | Review by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home page, annotated plate | The numbered markers on the photograph are positioned visually. Their meaning is in the list beneath, but a screen reader does not connect a marker to its spot on the image. | The five callouts are also written out as a plain list directly under the figure. | December 2026 |
| Support chat | New staff replies are announced through a live region, but some screen readers repeat the previous message as well. | Email [email protected] or call (919) 684-5600 instead. | December 2026 |
| Route and timeline checker | The result updates live on every change, which can be noisy with a screen reader when the year picker is scrolled with arrow keys. | Set the inputs, then move to the result heading. The admissions office can talk through the same logic by phone. | March 2027 |
| Linked university documents | Some documents published elsewhere by schools and departments are scanned PDFs without a text layer. | Ask for an accessible version; we will request it from the office that publishes it. | Ongoing |
Visiting in person
Tours leave on foot and run about ninety minutes over stone paths and some steps. If you use a wheelchair, walk with a cane, need seating along the route or need a sign language interpreter, say so in the inquiry when you book the visit. The desk arranges a step-free route or an alternative before the day. Please give as much notice as you can; a request made the morning of the tour is harder to meet.
How to report a barrier
Tell us the page address, what you were trying to do, and what got in the way. If you use assistive technology, name it and the browser; that alone halves the time it takes us to reproduce a fault.
- Email [email protected] with "Accessibility" in the subject line.
- Call (919) 684-5600 and ask for the admissions and visitor desk.
- Write to BOX 90502 705 BROAD STREET, DURHAM, NC 27708, United States.
- Use the form on the contact page and put "Accessibility" at the start of your message.
A person reads the report. If the barrier stopped you getting information you needed, such as a document list or a tour time, we send that information to you in a format that works for you while the fault is fixed. We do not ask you to prove a disability to receive it.
What this statement does not cover
It covers duke.us.org only. The official application platform and systems run by individual schools have their own accessibility statements, and a barrier there is best reported to that office. Send it to us if you are unsure where it belongs and we will pass it on.
How personal data in a report is handled is set out in the privacy policy. The terms of use for the site are in the clause ledger.