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The small print, in full

Accessibility

We want everyone to be able to learn from Our Eons. This page says honestly how well the site works today, where it falls short and what to do if it doesn't work for you.

Last updated

The short version

  • We aim for the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, level AA. The site is partly compliant: the text meets it in the checks we have run, but some drawings can only be seen, not read.
  • Every animation can be paused, and a Motion switch at the top of every page turns all movement off. It starts from your device’s own setting.
  • Everything a drawing shows is also said in words, in its caption, its description or the text around it.
  • If something doesn’t work for you, email hello@fallinghippo.com with “Accessibility” in the subject. We reply within 5 working days.

Our commitment

Our Eons is an educational site, so being usable by as many people as possible matters more than it would on most sites. FALLINGHIPPO LIMITED, which runs it, has a duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments so that disabled people can use its services. The accessibility regulations for public sector websites don’t apply to us, but we follow the same approach and publish this statement the way the government’s guidance describes.

We aim to meet WCAG 2.2 level AA, which is the standard the UK government uses.

How accessible the site is

Our Eons is partially compliant with WCAG 2.2 level AA. The next section but one lists what doesn’t meet it.

What works:

  • Reading. Every page is ordinary text with proper headings, links, lists and tables, in a sensible reading order. There is a “Skip to content” link at the top of every page.
  • Zoom and small screens. The layouts follow the window, from a wide screen to a phone, and in our checks at phone width no page scrolled sideways. You can enlarge text in your browser.
  • Colour and contrast. Text is dark on a light background. Where colour carries meaning, such as a layer of the Earth or a period of time, its name is written too.
  • Motion. The site checks whether you have asked your device for reduced motion, and if so nothing moves on its own. The Motion switch at the top of every page lets you change that either way. Every animation also has its own Pause button.
  • Drawings. Each drawing has a text description for screen readers and a caption that says what it shows and whether it is to scale. The cut-away Earth on the home page has a list of its layers in text.
  • The journeys. Surface to Core and The Walk are long scrolling pages. Each has a “jump to” list of links, and its gauge is written as text.
  • Keyboard. Every link, button and slider can be reached and used from the keyboard, and shows where the keyboard focus is.
  • No time limits, no flashing content, no sign-in, no pop-ups.
  • Language. Pages are marked as British English.

What we have checked

On 11 November 2026 we ran an automated check (axe-core) against WCAG 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2 levels A and AA on every page of the site, at desktop and at phone width, and checked colour contrast at every depth of Surface to Core and every period of The Walk. We checked the keyboard by hand. We haven’t yet had the site audited by an independent accessibility specialist, and we haven’t tested it with screen magnifiers or switch devices. Automated checks find only part of the problems, so please treat this statement as our honest best account, not a guarantee.

What doesn’t work yet

  • Animated drawings are pictures. The animations in the lessons are drawn on a canvas, which assistive technology sees as one picture with a description. The description and the text around it say what the animation shows, but you can’t explore the drawing itself with a screen reader.
  • The quarter-Earth beside Surface to Core is decoration for sighted readers. It shows how far down you are. The same information is in the gauge, as text.
  • Very long pages. At true scale, Surface to Core and The Walk are very long. Use the “jump to” links, or the End key, to move through them quickly.

We are working on these, and will update this page as each one is done.

Tell us about a problem

If you can’t use part of the site, find something confusing, or think we have got something wrong here, email hello@fallinghippo.com with “Accessibility” in the subject. Please tell us the page, what you were trying to do, what happened and what you use to browse (for example the browser and any assistive technology). We reply within 5 working days.

If you need something from a page in a different form, such as plain text, large print or a description of a drawing, tell us which page and we will do our best to give it to you in a reasonable time.

If you’re not happy with our reply

If you contact us and aren’t happy with how we respond, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) at equalityadvisoryservice.com, which gives advice and help on discrimination and equality. If you live in Northern Ireland, you can contact the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland instead.

Technical information

Our Eons is built with HTML, CSS and JavaScript. It works best in a current version of Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari. The text of every page works without JavaScript. The animations, gauges and Motion switch need it.

This statement was prepared on 11 November 2026. We will review it at least once a year and when we change the site in a way that affects it.

  • 11 November 2026. First version.