Statement · Site and floor
The website targets WCAG 2.2 AA, and the floor gets described to you before you arrive.
Two kinds of access matter here. One is this website, which should work with a keyboard alone and at 400% zoom. The other is the climbing gym itself, a working event venue and film location rental in Brooklyn, NY, where deep soft mats and chalk in the air change how a body moves through the room.
What the site aims at
We build and check brooklynboulders.us against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 at level AA. That is a target we test against, not a certificate. Nobody outside the studio has audited the site, and we would rather say so than print a badge.
Every page is plain HTML with one heading level one, landmarks for the header, main content and footer, and a skip link as the first thing the Tab key reaches. Text is set in real type, not pictures of type. Photographs of the floor carry written descriptions of what is in the frame.
Keyboard and focus
You can reach every link, button, tab and form field with Tab and Shift+Tab. The homepage tabs follow the ARIA tab pattern: arrow keys move between Overview, What we do, Proof and Contact, and Enter or Space opens the one you are on. The horizontal wall rails take the left and right arrow keys once focused, and they also have plain previous and next buttons, so nothing depends on a mouse wheel or a drag.
The focus ring is a 2px rust outline offset from the control. We do not remove it anywhere.
Motion, colour and zoom
If your system asks for reduced motion, the stamp stops pressing in, tab panels swap without the clip reveal, and both horizontal rails turn into ordinary vertical lists. Nothing on the site autoplays video or sound.
Body text is warm charcoal on cream, well above the 4.5:1 contrast minimum. The rust accent is only used where it passes at its size, or alongside a second cue like an underline or a label. The layout reflows from a 320px phone upward without sideways scrolling, and holds together at 400% browser zoom.
Forms, chat and the cookie bar
Each form field has a visible label, not a placeholder pretending to be one. Errors are written out in words next to the field and announced to screen readers, for example "Add a phone number we can reach on a shoot day." The inquiry form never times out on you while you type a long shot list.
The cookie bar sits at the bottom of the screen and does not block the page; you can keep reading and answer it later. The chat panel opens with a button, closes with Escape or its close button, and returns focus to the launcher when it shuts.
Known gaps
The shoot finder returns its answer in a live region. Some older screen reader and browser pairs read the whole answer twice. We know, and it is on the list. The logo is an image with the studio name as its alternative text, and the circular stamp mark is decorative and hidden from assistive technology on purpose.
What the climbing floor is like to move on
This is a working bouldering gym, used as a sports photography location and a climbing gym event venue in Brooklyn. It was built for climbing first. That shapes access more than any sign on a door does, and we would rather describe it honestly than promise something the room cannot do.
Most of the floor under the walls is crash mat: deep, soft foam meant to catch a falling climber. It is hard going for wheelchairs, walkers, crutches and anyone unsteady on their feet, and it tires a camera operator walking a gimbal faster than you would think. Beside the mats runs a level rubber walkway, the one in the photograph above. Guests, video village and anyone on wheels should stay on it.
Getting from the street to the floor
We do not print a route here because load-in doors, stored kit and event set-ups change what is open on a given day. Call the floor desk before your date and we will describe the route from the street door at 575 Degraw St to the floor as it will be that day: doors, any steps, the distance to the walkway and where to leave a chair or a cart. For a crew, the same call covers where the carts roll in.
If you are coming to a recce, say what you need and we will walk the route with you first, before we look at a single wall.
Chalk, noise and light
Chalk is magnesium carbonate and it hangs in the air, worst near the walls during busy climbing hours. If you have asthma or another breathing condition, ask for a slot when climbing is closed; the air settles within an hour or so of the last climber leaving. The room is loud when the gym is open: music, falling bodies, shouting. Events and competitions run louder and use bright stage light on the trusses.
We can turn the music off for a portrait session or a quiet interview. We cannot make an open gym quiet.
Climbing on camera with a disability
Adaptive climbers are welcome on the walls for a shoot or an athlete portrait session, under the same rule as everyone: a floor spotter from the studio is under every move above head height, and high moves are roped. Tell us about the athlete ahead of time so the spotter and the route setter can plan holds and positions properly, rather than improvising in front of the lens.
Tell us what broke
If a page will not work with your setup, or the floor was not what we described, write to [email protected] with the page address or the date of your visit. A person on the floor desk reads it. For the website we reply with either a fix or a plain reason why not yet, and we tell you which. If you need the content of a page in another format, say which and we will send it.
You can also reach us through the contact page, or ask for a copy or deletion of the details you gave us through the data request section of the privacy notice.
Ask about the route before the date.
Send the date, the crew or guest count and anything the floor needs to know about access. We answer with how the room will be that day.