Web Accessibility Statement
The National Gallery of Art is committed to making our websites accessible to everyone and to delivering a universally accessible user experience.
As we strive to not only meet this goal but also surpass the requirements detailed in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), we realize that all areas of our website are not yet fully accessible. Our ongoing efforts to make improvements include rolling out new and updated features.
The current state of accessibility on NGA.gov
We follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to ensure that any new or updated web designs are technically and functionally usable. Defined on three levels— A, AA, and AAA— WCAG specifications allow designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. Although nga.gov is partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 Level AA, our ambition is to fully comply at the highest level.
Non-accessible content
We are also working to improve accessibility on older, legacy portions of our website. We are aware of the following issues:
- It is not always possible to skip repeated content in the page header in some areas
- Images do not have alt-text descriptions and thus cannot be read on a screen reader
- Audio files lack transcriptions
- Archived PDF files are not fully accessible to screen-reader software
- Screen readers cannot skip main content in some areas, like nga.gov/gemini
What we are doing to improve accessibility
The National Gallery is implementing inclusive design for digital products, a methodology that enables all users access to this content and honors the full range of human diversity. New and updated features and designs will adhere to the latest WCAG standards. We will design and test with real users to gather diverse perspectives.
What to do if you cannot access parts of this website
We welcome your suggestions and questions about the accessibility of nga.gov.
We try to respond to comments within five business days.
This statement was updated on 23 May 2022.