Accessibility
Last updated: July 5, 2026
webPunk is built to be usable and comfortable for as many people as possible. This page describes design choices we make for accessibility and eye comfort — starting with the living sky background behind the home feed.
If you have feedback or need assistance, contact us at support@ael.org.
Living sky background
Behind the home feed, webPunk shows a living sky — a soft gradient wallpaper that changes through the day to follow the natural rhythm of light outside. The same feature exists in the webPunk mobile app.
The sky is decorative: it does not carry essential information and is marked aria-hidden so screen readers focus on posts and navigation instead.
Why we built it for accessibility and eye comfort
- Circadian alignment — Cooler, darker tones at night and warmer tones at dawn and dusk mirror how outdoor light changes. That reduces the jarring contrast of a bright white screen after dark.
- Lower luminance at night — Night and twilight palettes use deep blues and muted horizon colors instead of pure black or pure white, which is easier on eyes during late-evening use.
- Readable contrast with UI chrome — Even the daytime sky is deliberately darker than a typical “sunny blue” wallpaper so light text, icons, and glass panels on top stay legible without harsh backlighting behind them.
- No location permission required — The sky uses your device timezone and a solar model (approximate latitude, longitude from UTC offset) to estimate dawn, day, dusk, and night. You get time-appropriate colors without sharing GPS data.
- Respects reduced motion — When your system has Reduce Motion enabled, drifting clouds and twinkling stars pause. The gradient still updates with time of day; only continuous animation stops.
How the time-of-day bands work
The sky picks one of six bands from the sun’s approximate altitude above the horizon:
- Night — Sun more than 6° below the horizon
- Twilight — Sun between 6° below and the horizon (dawn or dusk)
- Golden hour — Sun between the horizon and 5° above (warm morning or evening light)
- Daytime — Sun more than 5° above the horizon
Bands crossfade over about two seconds when the clock crosses a threshold. The feed re-checks every minute and when you return to the tab, so the sky stays in sync without heavy battery use.
Examples through the day
Each panel below is a snapshot of the same sky component used in the feed, pinned to a specific band. Your actual sky updates automatically to match your local time.
Dawn twilight
Before sunrise
Dawn twilight
Deep indigo and violet at the horizon as the sky begins to lighten. A soft star field fades out.
Golden hour (morning)
Low sun, early morning
Golden hour (morning)
Warm peach and rose tones along the horizon with cool blue above — easier on eyes than a flat white screen.
Daytime
Midday
Daytime
Muted blue daylight. Deliberately darker than a typical sky so light UI chrome stays readable.
Golden hour (evening)
Low sun, late afternoon
Golden hour (evening)
Amber and coral at the horizon with deepening blues overhead — warmer and less harsh than midday white.
Dusk twilight
After sunset
Dusk twilight
Purples and muted rose at the horizon as the sky darkens. Stars begin to appear.
Night
Late evening through early morning
Night
Deep navy zenith with a subtle star field — low overall luminance for comfortable late-night browsing.
Other accessibility considerations
- Keyboard focus indicators on interactive controls (we continue to improve focus visibility across the app).
- Semantic headings and landmarks on static pages like this one.
- Alternative text on meaningful images; decorative imagery marked appropriately.
- Support for system preferences such as
prefers-reduced-motionwhere animations are non-essential.
We are actively working on additional improvements. This page will be updated as we ship more accessibility features.
Related documents
Contact
Questions about accessibility on webPunk? Email support@ael.org.